Kamen Rider Zero ARC 3: The Great Crusade
by DiscontentCat
Summary: With Erika out of action and Team Amnesia still down in numbers, the city of Jinsoku is in bad shape. However, things will only get worse as a returning force comes to invade Jinsoku once more. Will the city be able to survive an attack of this scale? Will Zero and Amnesia be able to keep them at bay? Will they be able to prevent another Day Zero?
1. Trimmed Version

And it's finally here! After several months, my "Movie Special" finally arrives! For anyone that's been keeping up with the series, thank you for the support. ^^ And for anyone that's checking out this story for the first time, welcome! ^^ Now, with this being a "Movie Special," I've decided to split this story into include a "director's cut" version of the story. I've been given very constructive criticism by the ever so helpful starsofjustice (Go check him out. He's an extremely insighful betareader as well as a very talented writer) that my stories tend to drag on for a bit too long, particularly when it comes to fight scenes. And though the latter can't really be helped in this specific case, I've been able to trim the story up a bit to make it a little more...digestible? So if you want a more in depth look at any motivations or thoughts the characters have, the "director's cut" version is the one to check out. But if you just wanna get right into the action, then stay right here. Either way, I hope you all enjoy. As always, all constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. =3

* * *

Kamen Rider Zero Arc 3 "Movie" Special

The Great _Crusade_

Two furs sat alone in a large, open office. The walls were pure white, much like the fur of the vulpine seated behind the desk at the center of the room. The artic fox had on a suit that matched his snow white fur, causing him to give off a sort of glow as the sunlight reflected off of him from the large windows surrounding the outer edges of the office. Looking beyond these windows, large mountains and landscapes could be seen, with no indication of any other built structure in sight. The fox had on a slight smile as he tapped at his keyboard and clicked at his mouse. On his screen, various charts of Memories and Dopants were being scrolled through. Most he quickly passed by. But several, he would stop on.

Bullet. Water. Edge. Magma. Broadcast. Muscle. Ninja. Illusion.

None of these Memories or respective Dopants had anything inherently in common, but one thing remained constant on each and every one of those specific charts.

They were failures.

The fox sighed through his nose and clicked away from the window and moved on to another page, one with a picture of Jinsoku City at the front. "Ahhh, Jinsoku City," said the fox in a smooth, rich tone, "A pleasant little city in Japan. Calm, peaceful, and most importantly, _filled_ with people." He sat back in his recliner and swished his bushy tail behind him. "Established in the year of 785, it was one of the first that allowed for a large population of furs and scales alike to live in. It was there that the heart of innovation and ingenuity took place. I'd say that its very existence is a marvel in it of itself." The fox moved his bowser to another page, this one containing an arrangement of factoids and information. "Many important things happened here, things that had an effect on the _whole world_ , I'd say. The recreation of automobiles for one thing. The recreation of computers for another."

"And the infamous day known as Day Zero," finished the other occupant of the room, a coyote dressed in dark, strange, almost militaristic gear. He was sprawled across a long couch on the other side of the table, across from where the fox was sitting. His bare feet were propped up against the edge of the couch, with his boots set just next to his lazily laid back head on the floor. A grin, similar to the one the fox had, was spread across his muzzle as he looked back at him. The fox raised a brow at him coyly and glanced at him.

"Yes _indeed_ ," the fox replied, "But of course, _you_ would know _much_ about that day, Mr. Crusade." Crusade chuffed before sitting up, resting his shoeless feet across the table in front of him. "Do tell me, Mr. Crusade," the fox went on, "How _did_ that day go for you and your…crew?"

"Heh, what else is there to know?" Crusade replied with a snide tone, "We showed up, took the city under siege, and demonstrated what kind of power Gaia Memories have." He raised a brow at the fox and beckoned at him with a tilt of his head. "But then that Anti-Dopant team came in and took us down one by one. We were arrested and put on trial. We _surely_ would've been put to death, had it not been for the _generous_ donations from a certain discreet organization. And one that I believe you're most familiar with. After all, you _are_ their Headmaster." The Headmaster smiled back at him and nodded.

"Well," Headmaster began, "I couldn't just let a _pioneer_ such as yourself be put to such a waste. I had a feeling you were worth saving, rather than simply allowing you to be thrown out by society like some lowly criminal."

"Heh, a pioneer?" Crusade questioned with a slight chuckle.

"Oh yes," the fox nodded, reaching under his desk and pulling out a sleek Memory. He fiddled with it and examined it as he went on. "You were the one that decided to show the world that Gaia Memories are the weapons of the _future_. These beautiful little devices are capable of creating super powered individuals for little to no consequence."

Crusade laughed in amusement. "Well, I guess if you put it like _that_ , then I guess I _am_ a pioneer."

"You're welcome for the compliment by the way," Headmaster replied before looking back at his computer screen and clicking back to his records. As he did, the pleasant smile that had been spread across his muzzle slowly melted away. "Yet, despite this knowledge, the world _still_ hasn't seemed to have caught on to exactly what that entails. It's as though they must witness their full potential once again in order to fully understand…" The pleasant smile returned to him as he reached down underneath his desk again and pulled out a sleek suitcase. He carefully placed it on his desk and opened it up, smiling at the coyote and carefully spinning it around to present the contents inside to him. "So I ask you, Mr. Crusade, will you be the one to remind them?"

Crusade smirked and took his foot off of the desk, leaning over to pick one of 12 Memories inside. He held it in his fingers and ran his thumb over the printed 'C' at the front of it. He took his eyes off of the device to return his gaze to the fox, who smiled back at him as he awaited his answer. And with a toothy grin, he replied, "My crew and I have been eager for another crusade…"

* * *

2's eyes scanned the valley as she sat on her bike in her armor. If anything so much as twitched or shifted, her eyes were on it. This was an important mission, and she wasn't about to allow anything to catch her by surprise and make her mess it up. Every time her eyes finished checking her surroundings, they went back to the road.

Meanwhile, back in Jinsoku, Arata was also seated on his bike, already transformed. As 1 had explained, the city was under lockdown in preparation for the coming recovery pod. With the base in shambles, and the majority of the team badly injured, they needed all the help they could get. However, with the city under lockdown, there was little for Arata to look at. Which was fine with him, as his eyes were glued mainly to the road. Yet despite how long he had been staring down it, he had never really acknowledged it. His mind was elsewhere, occupied with thoughts of Erika. _She didn't even answer me when I called,_ he thought, _she must still be really distraught over what happened…_

"I have visual on the cargo," 2's voice suddenly came through their com link, startling the panther out of his thoughts, "I'm beginning the escort now. Over." This prompted 1 and 6, both of whom were also in armor, to get moving from beneath their cover amongst the buildings.

"Copy that, 2," replied 1, "Streets are still clear on my side. Over."

"This is 6. Streets are clear from my side too. Over."

"…Uh, th-things are clear here too," Arata stammered, looking around himself as he suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place, "…Over."

"Roger that. Over." 2 replied before going quiet once more. With things finally proceeding, Arata was forced to push his thoughts aside for the time being and focus on the task at hand. He looked up and around himself to confirm that things really _were_ clear on his side. He knew that 1 and 6 weren't too far off from him, but he was still another set of eyes they needed to use. A few minutes passed before Arata took notice of a silhouette in the distance. It took him a bit of time to realize that it was 2.

"Uh-I can see you now, 2," Arata reported awkwardly.

"I've got you in my sights too, Arata. Over," said 2, glancing back at the truck behind her briefly.

"Good," said 1, "Arata, take up the rear. Over."

"Got it. Over." At that, Arata revved his bike and followed behind the large truck.

"Eyes up, Arata," 1's voice came, "We still need you on the lookout. Over."

"R-right. Sorry… Over," Arata mumbled before taking his eyes off of the rear of the vehicle. He slowed slightly to add some space between him and the truck before he let his eyes drift away from it. With the speed they were going at, it felt to him like things were going at a snail's pace. And though their speed wasn't exactly the fastest, it was allowing for 1 and 6 to keep up with them. They needed as many eyes around them as possible, so a slower pace was necessary for this particular mission. Unfortunately for them, all of their eyes still didn't allow them to see Crusade watching from afar with a pair of binoculars held up over his eyes.

"Do you have the target in sight?" he heard the headmaster ask through his Bluetooth. He smirked slightly and lowered his binoculars.

"Yes sir," he replied, "I've got a visual on them."

"Good," said the Headmaster, "then you may begin the siege."

"Roger that," Crusade replied with a wide grin.

"This is 1," came the commander's voice, "Things are still clear. Over."

"6 here. Things are clear he—" A grunt was heard, followed by rustling before she suddenly went silent. And as the silence settled in, Arata felt himself tense up with nervousness.

"6?" said 1, this time in a whisper, "Report in 6. Over." No reply came. At this point, Arata's heart began to race and 2 tightened her grip on her bike handles. "Stay wary," he went on, "we're under attack." Arata and 2 waited for him to sign out, but he never did.

"…1?" called 2. Still no response. "Arata, stay calm, but stay on high alert. Over."

"R-right," he replied, swinging his gaze back and forth, "Over." He shot his gaze over to the nearby buildings, trying to see if he could make out any movement. _What's going on?_ he questioned. Before the thought could develop any further, several shouts and cries were heard from up above. Arata looked up in time to see several dark figures leap from the rooftops and land on top of the cargo truck with loud thuds which caused the truck itself to swerve. Arata exclaimed in shock as the figures rose, allowing him to get a good look at them. They were lightly armored, only covering their head, chest and lower legs. Covering the rest of their dark-shaded bodies was what appeared to be chainmail, and in their hands, they held a sword and shield. They reminded him of the crusaders of the old times that he had vaguely remembered studying about in school.

"What are you doing?!" barked 2, "They're Dopants! Retaliate!"

"R-right!" Arata shouted before drawing out the gun holstered at his side. He thrust it forward and let loose several shots. However, most of his shots were merely blocked by one of the Dopants' shields. Soon afterwards, several of them leapt off of the truck and landed on Arata's bike, disorienting him and catching him off guard. He cried out as he was kicked off of it and rolled onto the ground. As he pushed himself up, he saw that the same fate had fallen upon 2, with both of their bikes swerving and crashing in the distance. 2 growled and fired her gun at the Dopants still on the truck.

"Arata stop them!" she shouted desperately. Arata didn't waste time in replying this time. Instead, he pried his Memory out of his Driver and slammed it into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

His body immediately burst into a blizzard that swept down the street and caught up to the truck. The blizzard focused around it and froze the Dopants still on it in place. However, as a result, the truck was trapped as well, and was brought to a halt. The blizzard condensed and re-formed Arata's body over the Dopants. He kicked his foot forward and smashed the Dopants into ice shards, leaving neon clouds of smoke behind. He grunted as he landed on his feet and stood back up. But as he did, he noticed something, or rather, the _lack_ of something.

"Th-there aren't any bodies left behind!" he exclaimed. One of the many Dopants suddenly caught him off guard by jumping up onto the truck with him and striking him in the back. As he stumbled and fell off of the truck, several doubles melted out of the Dopant's body and jumped after him. He grunted as he hit the ground hard and quickly scrambled backwards. "2! They can make copies of themselves!"

"Then these all must be doubles that we're fighting!" she shouted back, "Find some way to find the original one!"

Arata growled in frustration as he tried to parry and evade as many hits as he could. "I-I lost sight of the original one! I don't even know how I'd tell the difference!" He suddenly exclaimed as his gun was knocked out of his hand by one of the Dopants. He tried to go after it, however one of the Dopants grabbed him and pulled him back into the fight. Arata growled again as he drew his sword out from his belt, now forced to take on this army in close quarters. 2 did her best in providing support from afar, but the Dopants that she was dealing with were keeping her from doing so. To make matters worse, more and more Dopants were flooding into the area and joining the fight, making it even harder to keep up with their numbers.

"UrrRRGH FORGET THIS!" Arata roared before removing and re-slotting his Memory into his side slot. At the same time, 2 pulled _her_ Memory out of her Driver and stuffed it into her gun.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Whilst Arata's body burst into a raging blizzard, 2's gun rapidly charged up as she fought the Dopants off. After the blizzard had caught a majority of the Dopant crowd in ice, it condensed back into Arata's body and allowed him to come soaring down from the sky. As he slammed his foot down on one of the frozen Dopants, 2 pulled her trigger and blasted a chunk of the crowd apart. All of the attacked Dopants burst into neon clouds, however none of them left behind an unconscious body. Neither 2 nor Arata had a chance to celebrate their success or grieve over their miss of the original, as the destroyed Dopants were quickly replaced by more.

"Dammit, there's too many!" snarled 2 as they continued the fight. Her and Arata jerked as they heard the sounds of a screaming man. They both shot their gazes over to the truck and saw several Dopants prying the driver out and tossing him to the side of the road. Meanwhile, the other Dopants were making quick work of the ice that had trapped the truck in the first place. "Shit! Arata stop them!" She yelped in surprise as several of the Dopants suddenly overtook her. It wasn't long before she was subdued and her armor was destroyed.

"2!" Arata screamed in horror, hastening in his efforts to get to her as they began to grab at her.

"Forget me!" she barked at him, "Just stop that truck!" Even as she said this, Arata was continuing to fight his way through the crowd, though with little success. "ARATA! THAT WASN'T A REQUEST! THAT WAS A DIRECT ORDER! GO!"

Arata winced as he went back and forth with himself as to what to do. As he contemplated, the Dopants at the truck finished their work, and the truck resumed down the road. Eventually, Arata gave in and replied, "Understood! I'm going!" He then called to his bike, which sprung back up and shot through the crowd of Dopants, knocking them all aside as it zipped towards Arata. As soon as it was close enough, Arata leapt onto it and drove down the street as fast as he could. Several of the Dopants tried to get in his way, but he used his sword to bat as many of them away as he could.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to the truck as it sped down the road. With an extra little bit of push, Arata was able to drive up next to the driver's side of the truck. Gripping his sword tightly, he slashed the door open and sent it tumbling down the road behind them, taking out a few trailing Dopants in the process. But Arata was caught off guard as he saw not a Dopant behind the wheel, but a tactically-dressed coyote smiling coyly at him. He didn't have much time to ogle, though, as the canine kicked him directly in the face as he stared. This knocked him wildly off balance, and he and his bike swerved wildly as a result. Arata was thrown off of his bike, causing the both of them to tumble and roll across the street, with his bike screeching into a nearby building. The armored panther growled as he craned his neck up to watch the truck drive away. He slammed his fist down on the ground before reaching to his side and re-slotting his Memory.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Again, his body burst into a howling blizzard. It swept down the road and focused around the truck, once again freezing it in place and keeping it from moving. Once it stopped, Arata re-formed in front of it with his sword gripped firmly in paw. With a grunt, the coyote hopped down from the truck and dusted his paws off. He gave Arata a smirk of confidence and cracked his knuckles before he rushed towards him. This caught Arata off guard as he hastily defended himself, hesitating in using his sword against an unarmored opponent.

"Come on, what's wrong?" the coyote taunted, "I thought you were the highly regarded 'hero of the city!'" Arata grunted as he was struck in the gut multiple times. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that the coyote was well trained in combat, which only made matters worse for the untrained Rider. He exclaimed in surprise as the coyote managed to disarm him and slashed him across the chest with his own sword. As he stumbled back from the blows, he suddenly found his arms restrained by a Dopant. He looked around frantically as he struggled and watched as what _had_ to be the entire army crowding around him and the coyote and boxing them in. The coyote quickly closed in on him and struck him multiple times, with Arata unable to defend with his arms being held back. Luckily for him, this didn't last long. After enduring what had felt like a relentless amount of blows, the Dopants let him go. He sighed out as his knees hit the ground, his legs having gave out on him from exhaustion and weakness. The coyote looked down on him triumphantly as he fiddled with his sword.

"You know I was looking _forward_ to meeting you, Zero," he said pleasantly, slinging the sword over his shoulder, "I was worried that you wouldn't show up, despite everything that's been going on with the city recently." A low growl sounded out from deep within Arata's throat.

"Who are you guys?" he asked between panting breaths, "And what are you after?" The coyote smiled widely at him and stepped back a couple steps.

"Oh, that's not all that important right now," he replied, "Just think of us as old visitors who haven't been around these parts since Day Zero." Arata gasped upon the mention of that infamous day. Seeing this reaction, the coyote chuckled before making a gesture with his paw to the Dopants. "Alright, take him out of here," he commanded before hopping back in the now freed truck and driving away. Arata shouted and frantically struggled back up to his feet. As he tried to run after the canine, the large crowd of Dopants cut him off.

"Arata, you have to retreat!" shouted Tech through their link. Arata growled in frustration.

"But the others! And they still have the pod!"

"I know that!" Tech barked at him, "But there's no way you're going to be able to take all of these guys on! Not with how many there are, and not to mention how many _more_ there can be!" Arata narrowly avoided a swipe from several of the Dopants' swings.  
"We have to regroup, Arata! We'll think of a plan once you're safe!"

Arata growled in frustration, then in defeat. "Fine, I'm on my way." One final time, he re-slotted his Memory into his side slot and burst into a blizzard before sweeping himself up and away.

* * *

Arata sat in brooding silence as him and Tech's eyes were on the screen before them. They were back in the usable Amnesia facility room and were watching the news channel for any new developments.

 _"The city lockdown remains in effect," reported Brenda Illwood, "and citizens are asked at this time to please remain calm. The city is currently under attack by what is explained as a rogue band of Dopants, and it remains unclear whether or not they operate under the command of The Earth's Tree. Again, citizens are asked to remain calm, as our Amnesia operatives are doing their best in countering this attack. Citizens are advised to remain wary and cautious, and to not leave their hideouts for the time being. Rest assured that our t**m i* wor***g their har**d*** **"_

Arata and Tech sat up as the news feed became distorted, eventually being reduced to nothing but static. Arata was about to ask the vixen next to him what was going on, but suddenly the static began to clear. However, as the video feed returned, a very different image from the last filled the screen. It was the silhouette of a dark, shadowed figure.

"Hello citizens of Jinsoku," a heavily filtered voice came through, shocking Arata and Tech, "you may not know who we are, but _we_ are familiar with _you_."

"T-Tech?!" Arata exclaimed, looking over to her nervously.

"I'm on it!" she replied as she rushed out of her seat and over to a nearby console.

"In case you haven't already figured it out by now, _we_ are the reason your city is under siege." Arata growled through his teeth and shifted around in his seat uncomfortably. "Now, I know you must be scared right now, and that's fine. In fact, it's perfectly normal and honestly quite appropriate. You _should_ be scared, people of Jinsoku." An involuntary snarl escaped from Arata's throat. "Fear is good. Fear is _natural_. Fear keeps you from doing something stupid, like say…trying to resist an unstoppable force. Like _us_ for instance. So it's _appropriate_ to fear us." The image wavered for a moment and went to static, but it soon cleared up as the broadcast resumed. "If you _aren't_ afraid yet, then let me try and _convince_ you. I don't think it'll be hard to, though. If I've learned anything from what you people dubbed, 'Day Zero,' it's _that_."

Arata's heart throbbed.

"Now you may be asking yourselves," he went on, "Why would a man shrouded and hidden behind a filter bring up such an important day in Jinsoku history? Well, my patient viewers, that is because we're more involved in your city's history than you might realize. Before I explain, though, I'd like you all to recall the panic that swept through the city as it was overtaken. Recall the screams of fear, the frantic foot stomps of everyone who tried to flee. I'm sure that, after the chaos, you all were wondering, 'Who? Who could be responsible for such chaos?'" Again, he paused. "That would be us."

At that, time seemed to screech to a halt for Arata. _These_ people were the ones responsible for that day?! He thought they had been sent to prison and locked away for the rest of their lives! But they were out?! How?! And why?! Who had let these maniacs out?! A bizarre fusion of fear and anger swelled from within Arata. Those Dopants, that Coyote. They were responsible for everyone's fears and distress! They were the ones that destroyed parts of the city, and took away several of his family members! THEY were the ones that put them in the situation they were in now, and they were BACK! WHY WERE THEY BACK?! WERE THEY GOING TO DESTROY THE CITY AGAIN?! WHY DIDN'T HE RECOGNIZE ANY OF THE DOPANTS?! WERE THEY EVEN THE SAME DOPANTS?!

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen," he went on, cutting Arata off of his thoughts, " _we_ were the ones responsible for Day Zero, and we're _back_. The first time we overtook your city, we weren't as strong. But we've grown, and we've evolved, and now we are stronger than ever. There used to be just a few of us, but now…" The footage suddenly cut to a different scene; the streets of Jinsoku. However, rather than presenting empty roads, a horde of armored Dopants swarmed the streets. "Now we have all of the men we could ever want." The footage remained on the streets as the figure went on. "Of course, it's _still_ possible that someone could come along and stop us. Like…say…your precious Team Amnesia." This time, Tech was the one to tense up. "Ah yes, Team Amnesia. I'm _sure_ you have complete faith in them. Especially _now_ , when their base is in ruins, and the majority of their team being out of commission. But it's fine. After all, you still have _three_ members left. And trust me, I know, because we've got them right _here._ " Again, the footage cut to a new scene. This time however, Arata and Tech were presented with a disturbing sight. 1, 2 and 6 were all tied up in a dark, nondescript room, all of them without their armor on.

"Guys…" Tech gasped in horror, her eyes glued to the screen, "No…"

"Oh, but I'm _sure_ it'll be fine," the figure went on, "After all, they have that quick healing technology that lets them heal faster. _Surely_ they would use that _now_." He paused for a moment, and Arata almost felt that he could hear the figure audibly grin. "Well, you'd be _correct_ in believing that assumption…had we not taken that technology of theirs for ourselves." The figure allowed a chuckle to escape from his lips. "So I guess, all that leaves you is your precious hero… The one you call, 'Kamen Rider Zero…'" Arata felt his heart begin to race. He had a feeling that he knew what he would see next. And as if on cue, the footage changed once more. This time, Arata was the one presented, with footage of the fight that had taken place not too long ago. As he expected, he was forced to watch himself get beaten down by the countless amount of Dopants. Only a minute passed before he was shown facing off against the coyote that had been driving the truck, though his face was hidden from view of the camera.

"I _believe_ that's your hero, right?" the figure continued, "the one that you're watching get beaten down like a piñata at a child's birthday party? Hmm, yeah, I can see why you'd have such faith in him…" A snarl escaped from Arata's throat. "I hope you all realize by now that _no one_ is going to come and save you people from us. Without your…guardians, your protectors, your city is as good as ours. Sure, you yourselves could try and fight back, but without Gaia Memories of your own to fight against us," he paused to laugh, "I wouldn't suggest it." The footage cut away again, this time cycling through various streets as crowds of Dopants marched down them. "You've relied on your heroes for so long, and now that they're out of the picture, you have nothing left to protect you. I'll tell you right now; not even your little _lockdown_ procedures are gonna protect you from us. So I'd gather your loved ones. Have a heart to heart with them. Really cherish your time with them. Just be prepared for what's coming, because the Great Crusade has officially begun…"

At that, the footage began to melt away into static. By the time it cleared, the footage was back on the news broadcasting room, where random furs were rushing past the camera as everyone rushed to evacuate the building. And as abruptly as it came back, the footage was cut off and replaced with a standby screen.

Tech jerked as she heard a sudden noise. She swung her gaze around to see Arata gathering his things. "I have to go," he declared as he put on his jacket.

"W-wait a minute!" the vixen exclaimed, "I think I can figure out where they're hiding 1 and the others from the footage we saw, so just give me a minute!" Arata ignored her and latched his Driver onto his waist. Once it was on, he hurried towards the door. "Wait!" Tech shouted at him, "Where are you going?!"

"I have to stop them!" Arata replied, his paw already on the doorknob, "Just let me know whenever you find—"

"Arata, don't be stupid!" Tech cut him off, "You saw how many of them there are out there, didn't you?! Listen, I know you want to prevent another Day Zero from happening, Arata. I get it. But we need to think of a strategy before we—"

"They were on Erika's street, Tech!" Arata snapped, causing Tech's mouth to clamp shut. Arata growled before he threw the door open and rushed through it.

"Arata!" Tech shouted to him. He ignored her and rushed outside, transforming into Zero as he mounted his bike. As soon as Tech heard the roar of his engine, she knew he was already gone. She hissed and paced around the room in frustration.

"Dammit, Arata," she growled, "You better not get hurt out there…"

* * *

Arata's heart was racing almost as fast as his bike was as it zoomed down the streets of Jinsoku. As he did, he barreled through several Dopants as they tried to get in his way. Soon enough, he came across Erika's street. As he came up, he saw that there were just as many Dopants as there had been on the broadcasted footage. However, the scene laid out before him was far more horrifying than what had been shown before. Now, rather than just march down the street, the Dopants were breaking into homes and pulling citizens straight out of them. In the center of the street, a large crowd of terrified citizens were rallied, and among that crowd was…

 _Erika!_ Arata kicked his engines up a notch and shot down the street, barraging his way through the crowd of Dopants before screeching to a halt just in front of the huddled crowd. "Is everyone alright?!" he shouted over the commission. Now realizing who he was, the crowd suddenly exploded into cheers. This caught him off guard for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. He quickly drew the gun holstered at his side and shot down the street again, firing at the Dopants and fending them off as he tried to create an opening. Eventually, he leapt off of his bike and fought with the Dopants personally. At the same time, he guided his bike with his mind to help maintain his newly created opening. "Hurry everyone!" he shouted to the crowd, "Get out of here while you can!"

After a brief moment of hesitation, the crowd began to move and hurry down Arata's created path. Several Dopants tried to grab at the many people trying to escape, but Arata's bike kept them from getting too close. One by one, they made it out of the Dopant infested crowd and rushed down the streets, trying to get as far away from there as possible. Again, the Dopants tried to grab at them, but Arata made sure to keep them at bay as best as he could.

"Keep going!" he shouted with difficulty, struggling to keep up with the Dopants _and_ the crowd he was defending, "Get somewhere safe!" He suddenly stopped as he saw a familiar face come up from the rear of the crowd. With a shout, Arata kicked the nearest Dopant to him hard in the chest and sent it tumbling backwards into the ones behind it. With them occupied, Arata turned to face Erika, who ran up and stopped just in front of him.

"A…Arata…" she said with a wavering voice. Arata glanced back and forth between her and a rapidly approaching Dopant. He growled and shot at it to keep it at bay. "Arata I want to help…b-but…" Arata looked to her, seeing the pain, sorrow and fear in her eyes. Arata growled again and shook his head, pushing the snow leopard forward with a free paw.

"Just don't worry about it right now!" he exclaimed, blasting several more Dopants back, "I've got this! Just get somewhere safe!" Erika stood there for a moment in hesitation before eventually rushing down the street and out of sight. "Ack!" he shouted in pain as he was struck in the back, having been too distracted to have monitored everyone. As he stumbled, he heard his bike crash into a nearby building out of his line of sight. He suddenly remembered that the crowd was still being chased, and that he had neglected keeping up with them. But he didn't have time to grieve over this fact, because the Dopants still in the area all began to circle around him, each of them brandishing their weapons, and some of them openly laughing.

 _Wait,_ he thought, _none of them are multiplying… Do they have a limit on the copies they can make?_ He didn't find the answer. Instead, the Dopants all charged at him, swinging their swords at him wildly. Arata snarled as he struggled to fight back, his mind having difficulty keeping up with everything, as it had been strained from having to command his bike for such an extended period of time. Getting fed up with being treated as a walking punching bag, Arata tore his Memory out of his belt and jammed it into the slot of his gun.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He pulled the trigger and blasted the cluster of Dopants in front of him with a wave of ice, trapping several of them in place. Once they were trapped, Arata rushed through them and rammed his fists into them all, destroying as many of them as he could as quickly as he could. However, as soon as the Dopants were eliminated, more melted into existence and took their places. Arata growled in frustration as he was forced back to square one and defended himself against the group.

 _12,_ he thought, _there's 12 of them. So if this is one group, then that makes 11 copies…_ What this meant exactly, he couldn't figure out, as his mind was pre-occupied with dealing with all twelve of them at once. As he fought, he struggled to look for anything that would give away the original Dopant. But a sudden crescendo of shouts and screams cut his efforts off abruptly. In a jolt of fear, he snapped his gaze to the direction the cries had come from. And to his horror, he saw the crowd of citizens from before being rallied back by a separate group of Dopants. "No!" he cried out before struggling to fight his way to them. However, the Dopants he was still dealing with kept him from getting very far. None of them would let him pass, and he was finding it almost impossible to move them out of his way. He looked past them and saw all the eyes of the frightened citizens on him. At that point, he realized two things. The first was that his chances of winning this were slim to none. And the second?

The Dopants wanted the citizens to watch him lose.

"For GOD'S SAKE, ARATA!" screamed Tech suddenly, "That's enough! Get the hell out of there!"

"B…but those people!" Arata shouted with genuine pain.

"I know!" Tech shouted back, "I know it sucks, but you HAVE to get out of there! Do you _really_ want to get captured too?! Do you want to leave the city without someone to fight for it?!" Arata hesitated, torn between abandoning the people right in front of him, or risking himself by fighting against this seemingly endless horde.

"Well, well, _well_ ," called a familiar voice, prompting everyone including the Dopants to suddenly stop and back away from each other, "Isn't _this_ a treat?" Confused, Arata turned before stopping and letting out a low growl. It was the coyote from before, and he was making his way through the crowd of Dopants just out of the line of sight from the nearby citizens. "I knew you were persistent, but I didn't realize that you were stupid enough to think that you could stand a chance against us." Arata was about to make a remark, only to stop as he noticed something strapped to the canine's waist. It was a Driver, one just like his and Amnesia's. Seeing that he had taken notice of it, the coyote smirked and placed a paw on it. "Oh you noticed this, huh? Yeah, it wasn't easy to get it off of your friend. These things are hard to crack open, so we only managed to get our hands on _one_ of these things."

Arata snarled involuntarily. "What do you mean?! You took it from them?!"

"Yes _indeed_ ," he answered with a sly smile, "And I'm glad we got it when we did, cuz' now I get to test it out for myself. And what better way to test it out than on the battlefield, against the one and only Kamen Rider Zero?" He pulled out a sleek black Memory from his pocket and clicked the button at the front.

CRUSADE!

The coyote waved it around a bit before tossing it into the Driver, prompting a sound of confirmation from the device. He rolled his neck and shoulders before resting his paw on top of the Driver. "Henshin," he declared before slanting the Driver, prompting the Memory inside to respond.

CRUSADE!

A deep purple aura pulsated out of the Driver as the coyote's body was covered in sleek, black, segmented armor. The armor progressed upwards before finally enveloping his head, shrinking his snout down and forming a sharp face plate over it. A crest formed on his forehead, and glowing red eyes grew into existence. The coyote rolled his neck again and sighed in satisfaction, flexing his arms and fingers. "This feels _great_ ," he laughed, "No _wonder_ you jump at the opportunity to transform whenever you can." He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "You know what? I think I wanna be a Kamen Rider too." Arata growled harshly, clenching his paws into tight fists. "Yeah, and I know the perfect name too. Kamen Rider…Crusade."

"You people don't deserve a name like that," Arata growled, his fists beginning to tremble, "You LEAST of all!"

"Is that so?" Crusade huffed before raising a hand up. He motioned with his fingers before barking a command. Suddenly, something was thrown into the air and clattered on the ground in front of Arata's feet. He looked down and saw that it was his sword. He quickly moved his gaze back over to Crusade, who was still flexing and stretching. "Go on then," said Crusade mockingly, "Take it. You want to take that name away from me? Then beat me and shut me up for good." Arata snarled and bent down to pick it up. As he did, Crusade reached back and grabbed onto two handles attached to his back. He pried them off and pulled their triggers, prompting shadowy beams to jut out from the handles. Crusade laughed and twirled his beam sabers around intimidatingly. "Come on, Zero," he hissed as he crouched down and took on a wide stance, "Show me what heroes are made of." Arata uttered a battle roar as he charged forward, swinging wildly at Crusade. But the other Rider easily outmaneuvered him, avoiding most of his swings and blocking the rest with one of his sabers. And as Arata attacked, Crusade couldn't help but laugh at his efforts. "Oh come _on_ ," he taunted, avoiding another swing, "You're barely even TRYING!" Arata cried out as Crusade swung with one of his sabers, slashing it across his chest and sending sparks flying everywhere. As Arata staggered back, Crusade assaulted him with several more strikes, leaving noticeable gashes across his armor.

"Arata!" Tech screamed in horror. This was echoed by the citizens as well, who were more or less forced to watch this ordeal unfold before them.

"GAH!" Arata cried out as he was knocked off of his feet and thrown onto his back. He frantically swung his sword around him as he clawed back up to his feet, trying to keep the nearby Dopants at bay. But by the time he got up, he realized that they had all stepped back. This wasn't their fight anymore. This was between him and Crusade.

"Having fun yet?" Crusade taunted before two doubles of him melted out of his body, "Because I sure am." With an intimidating growl, him and his doubles rushed towards Arata and attacked. Again, he cried out as he took the blows, getting knocked off of his feet once more and landing heavily on his back.

"Arata!" screamed Tech, "Get out of there! NOW!" Arata's heart leaped as one of the doubles leapt upon him and tried to skewer him with one of his sabers. Arata acted purely out of reflex and moved out of the way, striking the double back with a well-timed swing. But as that Crusade staggered back, the other two leapt in to take his place and attacked him again. Arata hastily scrambled backwards as he tried to avoid their swings. This made it harder for him to get back up, which he managed to do only after the Crusades let up. He backed away and took on a defensive stance, angry that Crusade was clearly toying with him at this point, and distressed over the whole situation.

"But…Tech," he grumbled, trying to keep his voice low, "If I leave now, everyone watching will lose hope." He exclaimed in surprise as one of the many Dopants standing behind him crept up and pushed him forward, making him stumble right into the swing of one of the Crusades.

"And if you stay and get caught, there won't BE any hope!" Tech snapped, "Retreat NOW, Arata!"

The Rider cried out in pain as he was knocked into the air once more, landing on his back several meters away from the Crusades. He panted heavily as he clawed up to his knees, looking over to the huddled crowd. As he did, he could see everyone's horror-filled faces. He felt that they were scared for him, but had no doubt that they were terrified over their own threatened lives. Arata tore his gaze away from them, and back to the enemies at hand. _All_ of the enemies at hand. All of the enemies that he _alone_ would have to deal with. He growled and slammed his fist into the ground. "I'm…sorry everyone…" he growled as he moved his paw over to his Driver. The Crusades took notice of this and rushed forward, ready to strike him down. But by the time they got to him, he slammed his Memory into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

A Crusade swung at him, but the second his saber made contact with the Rider, Arata's body burst into a blizzard that stunned him and made him stumble backwards. The blizzard swept through the crowd of Dopants and Crusades before eventually blowing away and shooting off into the distance, leaving all of them with nothing but bits of snow littering their armor. And as the blizzard left, Crusade chuffed in amusement and dusted some snow off of his shoulder. He then switched off his sabers, and his doubles melded back into his body. He then turned towards the crowd of gathered civilians and laughed. He could see it so easily, it was as bright as daylight; their disheartened souls as their supposed "hero" fled from the fight, leaving them to fend for themselves.

"So do you people see now?" he shouted to them, raising his hands out to the sides, "Your 'hero' has left you all behind to save himself. Now you have _no one left_ to come to your rescue. You are all at the _mercy_ of us. So I'd suggest playing along and complying, because I _can't_ guarantee your personal safety otherwise…" The people looked amongst one another as they mumbled to themselves, holding their loved ones close. As they did this, Crusade chuckled and folded his arms. Things were going well; the Great Crusade was off to a fantastic start. And it was only going to get better from here…

* * *

Arata grunted as he crashed through the door and stumbled into the room out of his armor and panting from exhaustion. As soon as she saw him, Tech rushed over to his side and helped him into the nearest chair. Once he was seated, Arata continued to pant and let his head hang back as he tried to regain the stamina that had been drained from his body. "Are you alright?" the vixen asked in concern as she checked and inspected his body for any injuries.

"I feel… _terrible_ ," he huffed between pants, "I had to…abandon them! All of them! I feel…I feel like DIRT, Tech!"

"There wasn't ANYTHING you could have done there, Arata," Tech said sternly at him, looking up from her inspection.

"I could have stayed and FOUGHT!" Arata growled back, lifting his head up to look back at her.

"Right, fought and gotten yourself BEATEN half to death, and then CAPTURED in front of everyone, leaving the entirety of Jinsoku TRULY defenseless!" Tech snapped, silencing Arata and making his ears lower in submission.

"I…" he began with a wavering voice, "I…" His eyes shut closed and he turned away, grimacing and bearing his teeth. He breathed heavily as he fought down his tears. Tech didn't say anything after that. Instead, she continued her inspection and let the panther be. "…I'm sorry," he mumbled, making one of Tech's ear's twitch up.

"It's alright," she replied, "Everyone's just stressed right now."

"That's putting things lightly…" he mumbled again, earning a half-hearted chuff from Tech. "Tech…what are we gonna do? There's just…so _many_ of them… And to top things off, they've got our recovery pod."

"I know…" Tech replied as she pulled one of Arata's sleeves up, "We're in a pretty tight spot here…"

"Again…putting it lightly," Arata replied. Tech rolled her eyes playfully at him as she finished her check-up. She then walked over to her console and clicked through different screens.

"Well," she began, "A good place to start would be get our numbers back up. With the footage that was broadcasted, I'll be able to figure out what building 1 and the others are being held in. Once I've got a place, our first move will be getting them out of there."

Arata attempted to sit up, only to fail as his body refused him to. "They're…probably going to be expecting that, y'know."

"I know," Tech replied with a nod, "But what they _won't_ be expecting is _you_." Arata blinked, caught off guard from the statement.

* * *

The next day found Arata stalking through the streets with his hoodie pulled over his head. Though he knew Tech had eyes on him through the working street cameras, Arata still felt as alone as ever. He gasped slightly as he caught sight of several Dopants coming his way. He quickly hid behind a large trash bin and held his breath as they walked by. Once Arata felt that it was safe enough, he stepped out of his hiding spot and got moving again.

"Arata," came Tech's voice through his ear-piece, "do you see those two Dopants on the other side of the block? Do your best to follow them. I think they might lead you to where they're keeping everyone." Arata didn't respond, as per the plan. For his own safety, he wasn't to respond to anything Tech told him. "Watch your left," she suddenly said. Arata looked and quickly hid away, squatting down behind a busted up car until the Dopants passed him by. "You're good," said Tech, "Go on ahead." Arata carefully stood back up and proceeded onwards, being sure to scan the area around him as frequently as possible. "Eyes on the prize, Arata. I've got your back, so just focus on the ones you're trailing." Arata eased a breath out as he moved his gaze back to the two Dopants ahead of him. As he followed them, Arata found himself taking more and more turns, making it all the more difficult to find places to hide. Eventually, he reached a long alleyway between buildings.

"Arata, be careful here. You're entering an area that I can't monitor you from." Arata bit his lip and shifted his weight between his feet. "Good luck, Arata. Be safe." Arata closed his eyes and evened out his breathing, trying to keep himself as calm as he could. He checked the alleyway again one last time before finally slipping into it. Despite being behind several buildings, Arata felt even more vulnerable than he had been before. Here, there were no walls he could hide behind, and the trash bins were few and far between. Thankfully for him, the trip didn't last long. After a few turns, he caught sight of where the two Dopants were headed; a large and seemingly abandoned warehouse. He crouched down behind a nearby crate as he watched the Dopants approach the large door. One of them knocked on it, and it swung open for them. And as they stepped in, Arata caught a glimpse of the crowd of people being held inside.

Arata realized that he was clenching his fist and relaxed it, trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. After the two Dopants stepped inside, Arata carefully got up and started towards the large building.

"HEY!" a loud voice made Arata jump. He quickly whirled around and saw a Dopant rushing towards him from his rear. His heart leapt and he made a break for it, running in the opposite direction. But once his gaze was forward again, he realized too late that there were several other Dopants standing in his way. They caught him and held his arms back, restricting his movements as they all made their way towards the warehouse.

"Thought you could sneak up on us and take a peek, huh?" taunted one of the Dopants, "Well how about we give you a closer look inside then?" Arata growled and tried to struggle out of their grip.

"Arata?" came Tech's voice, "You've been caught, haven't you? Ok, just stay calm, and try to resist moderately. Don't overdo it." Arata hissed through his teeth as he tried to free his arms. But the Dopants merely tightened their grip on him and overpowered him, completely locking Arata's arms from movement. One of the Dopants knocked on the door, and it opened it up again, allowing Arata to get a better look at what was inside.

And what he saw made his heart sink.

All around, there were people trapped in cages, many hugging their loved ones close as they tried to comfort one another. Many had jerked violently as the Dopants dragged Arata in. The panther stared at the scene in horror as he himself was dragged over to a cage already occupied by a group of frightened people and tossed into it as it was opened up for him. He landed with a grunt as the door to the cage was closed and locked behind him. The Dopants didn't even say a word as they walked away, seeming to go right back to their business.

"Arata, are y** alright?" asked Tech, her side being muffled slightly by static, "If it's safe t* *alk, tell me w*** you se*." Gingerly, Arata picked himself off of the ground and stood up. The place was _filled_ with cages, and those cages were filled with people. All around, he could see children clinging to their parents to support. Looking closer, he noticed a pair of paws clasped to each other from opposite cages. It didn't take Arata long to realize that they were a mother and child that had been put in separate cages for whatever reason. Both children and adults alike were crying out of fear, with some seeming to be on the verge of a full on breakdown. "A**ta?" came Tech's voice again, "If ***'re not saf* yet, don't s** any**ing. If y** are, tell me qui**ly wh*t you see."

A slight snarl escaped Arata's lips as he answered, "I see a wrong that needs to be righted…" He looked up and scanned the area around him, ignoring the group of people in his cage that seemed to be doing the same to him. Though he couldn't make out anyone that looked like the troopers or Erika, he managed to spot where any of the Dopants were. He could see several Dopants perched up above in the rafters, watching over the caged civilians like vultures. Arata lowered his gaze from them and continued to scan the crowd.

"Ok, I know th*t you'r* trying to be dramat*c with tha* sta*ement, but I seri*ously need to kn** wh**'s going on."

With a slight huff, Arata sat down and whispered, "We're in a huge warehouse, and all of the people they've captured so far are being kept in cages." He pursed his lips. "I still haven't seen Erika or the troopers yet. I'm gonna keep looking before I try to break everyone out—" He stopped as he heard sudden yelps from the other side of the warehouse. Arata immediately sat up and scanned the area, taking notice of a Dopant opening up one of the cages and prying several people out of it.

"Wh*t hap*ened?" asked Tech. Arata's heart began to pound.

"The Dopants are pulling some people out of their cage," he whispered nervously, "I-I don't know what's going on." The frightened citizens were thrown into the clear center of the building. Several fell to the floor before they could catch their balance. As they all huddled up against each other, the Dopants split themselves up and surrounded the helpless furs. As soon as the last one was thrown into the clearing, the ones still in cages all began to shout in fear and protest. This only made Arata tense up even more as he waited in anticipation for what was about to happen.

"Alright, LISTEN UP!" shouted one of the Dopants, "Since we've got a new guest here, we'll be having another little _demonstration_!" Arata's heart sank as he heard the sounds of swords being drawn. His dread was only further spurred on as the Dopants began to bang their blades against their shields and slowly approach the helpless crowd. It wasn't long before he found himself screaming in horror along with everyone else. Suddenly, the Dopants began to dance around the group, laughing in amusement as they slashed at the ground just in front of the group's feet. As this went on, everyone in the group tried to scramble away in an attempt to avoid the swings of the Dopants. However, none of them made any attempt to run past the Dopants, for there were far too many of them, with all of them surrounding them and removing any chance of escaping. As a result, the furs fought amongst one another as they tried to force their way into the center of their group so as to protect themselves with the bodies of everyone else.

"STOP IT!" Arata screamed, grabbing tightly onto the bars of his cage and shaking them, "THIS IS INSANE! PLEASE STOP THIS!" None of the Dopants acknowledged his screams, though it was doubtful that they had heard him amongst the crescendo of screams of those around him. Eventually, Arata snarled in rage and stepped back from the bars, removing his Driver from his coat and latching it onto his waist. He then slammed his Memory into the device and shot his paw forward, slanting it and triggering his transformation.

FREEZE!

The people inside of the cage with him exclaimed in surprise as they felt a rush of cold wind wash over them from behind. Everyone around them reacted similarly as the sudden blizzard swept through the building, eventually catching the attention of the Dopants in the building. Arata whipped his arm off to the side and cast away the blizzard, revealing his armored self to everyone.

"Move aside!" he commanded the furs in his cage. They hastily moved away from him as he lunged forward and punched open the cage, sending the door flying into several Dopants and obliterating them. Arata roared out as he rushed out of the cage and towards the Dopants. As he closed in, a cluster from the crowd of Dopants broke off and herded the group of furs in the clearing out of the way whilst the rest of the Dopants ran off to confront Arata. "COME AT ME, YOU SICK BASTARDS!" he roared out in fury as he drew his sword out and parried a swing from one of the Dopants. The armored panther barely even registered how foolish of a decision he had made in taking them all on, as the sheer amount of them that were there would've been staggering. But he didn't care; he was far too filled with rage and hate. He barreled through them all, rushing past them as he made his way through the Dopant-filled warehouse. And as he ran, he slashed at the doors of the cages that he passed by, destroying the locks and causing the doors to swing wide open.

As he fought through them all, he realized that he was losing more and more space to fight in. It took a moment before he realized that he had weaved himself into the group of cages. He cringed as he struggled to maintain proper space. Though the Dopants were now being funneled through to him, he was left with far less breathing room. He snarled in frustration before drawing out his gun and firing at the Dopants. The ones immediately in front of him were knocked over, but the ones in the rear hastily dove away, leaving only the cages in his blasts' way. Arata exclaimed as his shots burst against the cage bars, producing wild sparks and prompting the occupants inside to scramble back in fear. He nearly dropped his gun out of regret, but a slash to his back quickly reminded him of why he was here. He regained his balance and turned to face his attackers, but he was only met with another strike to his back from the other side. "Damn it ALL!" Arata snarled and slammed his Memory into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

The building was once again swept with a freak blizzard. But it was quickly canceled out and rapidly condensed back into Arata, who dropped down from the air and slammed his foot into the closest Dopant. As he landed, and the Dopant combusted, an unconscious body fell to the ground with him. The instant that it hit the ground, several of the Dopants among the crowd vanished from sight. Arata, realizing what had just happened, pumped his fist in celebration and tightened his grip on his sword.

"Arata," came Tech's voice, "Don't forget; we still need to find 1 and the others."

"R-right! On it!" he replied before rushing down the warehouse, slashing open as many cages as he could as the remaining Dopants chased after him. Arata soon found himself exiting the large warehouse and rushing down a hallway leading to various rooms. He tried to scan them through the windows as he ran past them all with Dopants still hot on his tail. "Come on… Come _on_ …" He suddenly screeched to a halt as he was cut off at a turn. He let out a battle cry as he engaged with another group, now able to safely use his gun to defend himself. He eventually managed to knock down several Dopants in his way, allowing him to rush past the rest and continue his search. "Dammit, where _are_ you guys?!" he growled in frustration. He grunted as he felt the tip of a blade hack at his back, making him stumble. He growled again before stuffing his Memory into the handle of his blade.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He roared out as he whirled around and swung at the Dopants, hurling a small wave of ice at their feet. The wave hit them, and rapidly encased their feet in a sheet of ice. The Dopants behind them slammed into them, resulting in all of them falling over each other in a big heap of metal and cloth. Now granted momentary relief, Arata rushed through as many turns as he could. He once again came screeching to a halt, tilting his head as he caught on to a strange sound. He listened closely and realized that it was the voice of 6 shouting from a distance. Realizing that he was getting close, Arata doubled his efforts and followed the sound of 6's voice.

"OVER HERE!" he heard her shout, making him run _even_ faster. Eventually, he found the room where the cries were coming from. He ran up to the door and threw it open, revealing the tied-up troopers on the other side of it.

"Guys!" he exclaimed, rushing over to their side.

"Save the reunion speech for later!" 6 cut him off, motioning to the bonds around their paws with her snout. "Just get these ropes off of us!"

"Right," Arata nodded before moving in to cut at the ropes with his sword.

"Arata behind you!" 2 suddenly barked. Arata turned and was met with a strike to his shoulder, making him grunt in pain. He quickly brought up his gun and shot at the Dopants coming into the room. As they staggered out of it, Arata pulled the trigger on his sword.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He swung hard and threw another wave of ice at them, trapping them all once more. Once he saw that they were taken care of, Arata quickly got back to cutting at the troopers' bonds. He hastened his efforts as he started to hear the sharp sounds of ice cracking. "Almost…got it…" His heart raced as he hurried, nearly through with the large knots keeping the troopers from pulling themselves free. And practically all at once, he heard the loud cracks of broken ice and the snaps of the rope as his sword cut through. Arata turned in time to block a strike to his head with his sword, struggling against the Dopant as the troopers scrambled out of the way and jumped into action. 2 ran up to one of the Dopants and quickly disarmed it of its sword. She slashed it back as 1 grappled another Dopant and rammed it into the wall. 6 ran forward as well and tackled several of the Dopants out of the way, clearing a path to the door. Arata shot the Dopant he was dealing with backwards before tossing 6 his gun. She caught it and used it to blast the fallen Dopants back, allowing the group to make their escape.

"I'm taking point!" 6 shouted, "Arata, take the rear!" The Rider didn't argue as everyone else got into position, rushing down the hall as fast as they could.

"Do you guys know where they put your stuff?" Arata asked, constantly checking behind him as they ran.

"Don't bother with our guns!" shouted 6, "All of us but 2 have our Drivers and Memories. The bastards took 2's right off of her!"

"Yeah! I noticed that!" Arata replied, "Their damn leader is using it for himself now!"

"What?!" 2 shouted, "How did they get it to work?! We tightened their security up ever since _you_ happened!"

"We can discuss this later!" 1 cut them all off, "Right now we need to focus on getting out of here!"

"Do you guys have any idea how to escort everyone out of here?!" Arata asked, checking the rear again.

"Escort?" questioned 1, "Arata, we just can't _do_ that right now!" Arata swung his gaze over to the Komodo dragon in shock.

"Arata, there are just _too many_ of those Dopants out there to fight," said 2, "There's just _no_ way that we can fight them off if we try and get everyone else out!" Arata growled in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Arata," said 1, "But with the way things are right now, we're just gonna have to accept it."

"Like I'm gonna accept that!" Arata growled before breaking off from the group, causing everyone to shout after him. Arata screeched to a halt as his path was cut off by a group of Dopants. He snarled in anger before beating them all away with his blade and fighting through them. "I'm NOT leaving everyone behind a SECOND time in a row! You guys just get out of here! I'm taking things from here!"

He ignored everyone's shouts of protest as he continued to fight his way through the Dopant crowd. 6 growled in frustration before breaking off as well, shouting back, "You guys go! I'm gonna go get his dumbass back here!" She shouted after Arata as she pursued him, blasting Dopants away as she ran. Eventually, she caught up to him as he hit a denser group he was having difficulty in dealing with. "Arata!" 6 shouted over the commotion, "Think about this for a sec—"

"Forget it!" Arata snapped, beating several Dopants away from himself, "I'm getting everyone out of here, and that's final!" With a roar, he swung hard and knocked all of the Dopants in his way onto their backs. He wasted no time in rushing past them and re-entering the holding area. To his dismay, everyone was still in their cages, with their locks re-secured and replaced. He had no time to grieve over this though, as the Dopants that he had left behind quickly caught up to him and attacked.

"Arata!" 6 shouted as she caught up to them all, blasting several out of her way and joining his side. They fought hard to keep them all at bay, but this only resulted in the two of them being forced out into the open center of the warehouse, surrounded by the crowd of Dopants. Their struggles only increased as the Dopants multiplied their numbers, increasing the pressure on them by tenfold. 6 exclaimed as she was knocked over and overtaken by the Dopants. They hoisted her up and restrained her by the arms as she struggled against them.

"6!" Arata shouted as he tried to fight his way over to her. However, the Dopants remained in his way and prevented him from getting any closer to her. Arata slashed at them in fury, trying to knock them all aside. After one particular swing, the Dopants left an opening for him. Arata instinctively ran towards it, intent on getting to 6 before they could take her away. But just before he could reach her, a powerful strike knocked him into the air and back into the center of the area. Arata grunted as he hit the ground where the Dopants had cleared themselves from, seeming to withdraw from the fight and surround him. And as the armored panther clawed back onto his feet and looked up, he realized why.

Crusade had stepped in.

Arata tensed as the armored jackal laughed, idly swishing his beam saber around. "Well, well, _well_ ," Crusade shouted to the crowd, slowly circling Arata as he got back up, "It looks like you people will be getting an even _better_ demonstration today. After all, who better to demonstrate on than _Zero_?!" Arata tightened his grip on his blade as Crusade continued to circle him. "Of course, _most_ of you here today already know how this went," he taunted, pointing his saber at Arata, "But I think it's important that EVERYONE knows how much of a disadvantage your city has over us." Crusade laughed again as he reached back and drew out his other saber. It sparked to life in his paw the second it was out, and Crusade splayed both of his weapons out to his sides in a show of confidence. All eyes were on them as the two of them circled the area.

Suddenly, Crusade feigned a charge, making Arata flinch. Crusade laughed again, looking behind him to the crowd before whirling around and charging Arata for real. Arata hastily parried a swing and blocked his follow up, the force of it making him stagger back several steps. Crusade kept at him with his ruthless assault, beating at Arata mercilessly and keeping him on the defensive. At one point, Arata stepped back to far and was met with a slash to the back by one of the Dopants. Arata cried out in pain as he was struck, making him falter and walk right into Crusade's next attack. He hit the ground rolling as the Dopants cheered on Crusade, who laughed and rolled his neck as he casually walked towards him. "Is that the best you've got?" he taunted, standing over his opponent.

Arata growled and slammed his fist into the ground. He slashed at Crusade's feet, missing wildly as he laughed and backed way just out of his reach. Arata quickly clawed back up to his feet and lunged at Crusade, only to miss as he and a newly produced double split off to the side. Arata snarled in frustration and slammed his Memory into his blade.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

As Crusade rushed towards him, Arata pulled the trigger on his blade and swung forward, hurling a wave of ice straight at him. He quickly side-stepped to avoid, but stopped abruptly as his foot ended up getting caught by the tail end of the attack. With his foot now frozen to the ground, Crusade stopped and tugged at his foot to try and free himself. Arata realized the opportunity he was given and immediately rushed at him. However, his double immediately got in the way and cut him off, soon to be joined by another double sent by Crusade. It didn't take long for him to free himself from the ice, resulting in Arata having to deal with three Crusades at once. All of them rushed him and attacked him mercilessly, and Arata could barely manage to keep up with them all. Their attacks came from almost every angle, and Arata had to take the majority of their blows.

He suddenly cried out in pain as all of the Crusades attacked him at once, blowing him into the air and sending him crashing through the door of the warehouse. Crusade laughed as he and his doubles followed after him at a casual pace. Arata groaned as he struggled to get back up, looking up to see that the doors of the warehouse had been knocked off of their hinges, leaving them wide open and allowing everyone inside to still get a good look at him and the Crusades. The Crusades suddenly abandoned their casual stride and rushed at Arata, prompting him to hastily straighten up and brace himself for them. But his efforts proved far too slow, resulting in him taking hits as the Crusades all ran by and slashed him across the body.

Soon, it wasn't just three Crusades. More and more began to form and eventually had Arata completely surrounded. Now there were 12 Crusades, all of which just as deadly as the first, and all of which were hacking away at Arata's battered body.

"RaaaAAAAHH!" Arata screamed out, prying his Memory out of his sword and slamming it into the slot at his side.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

His body burst into a blizzard, causing many of the Crusades to get caught up in it. All of the others quickly backed away as they were frozen in place. Soon enough, the blizzard condensed back into Arata's body as he hung in mid-air. He didn't stay there for long, as he slapped the button on his side slot and shot back down to the ground. He slammed his foot into the nearest frozen Crusade, unleashing a seismic wave that shattered all of the frozen Crusades. But as Arata landed, he quickly took notice of the fact that none of the other Crusades had vanished.

"Nice try, kid," taunted one of the Crusades as they all closed in, "But you missed the right one!" Arata struggled to keep up as he was assaulted once more, but there were just so many of them. Every time he tried to attack, he was struck from his blind spot and staggered, leading to a chain reaction as he stumbled into one attack after the other.

"Arata!" 6 screamed in horror. Arata growled and fought back harder, focusing more on attacking rather than blocking. This worked for a little bit, but it very quickly became clear to him that this was a bad idea. After managing to land a couple of good shots on the Crusades, one of them snuck up from behind and lunged at his lower back. Arata cried out in pain as he was struck, once again staggering forward. All of the Crusades took advantage of this, each one running past him and landing a devastating strike to his chest armor. Sparks flew everywhere as gnarly gashes were left on Arata's armor, with Arata screaming in pain with each blow. One after another they came, holding nothing back as they swung at him. Arata staggered back and back with each passing blow, unable to block with his blade much less counter. It felt like it would never end, but as Arata's feet reflexively moved him forward, he looked up to see one last Crusade come into view. The Crusade roared out as he swung straight down, running his saber straight down from Arata's head, down his torso,

…and straight through his Driver.

Time seemed to stop for everyone watching as Arata staggered back one final step before his Driver fell apart, coming undone from his waist and crumbling into pieces. Arata's legs gave out on him, and he fell to his knees as his armor crumbled away as well. Soon, Arata was lying face down on the ground, his armor completely gone, his Driver left as nothing but rubble and debris, and his Memory clattering onto the ground next to him. Crusade huffed and stepped away, his doubles melting back into his body as he paced around Arata.

"And _that_ ," said Crusade, "is checkmate." Crusade shut off his sabers and stashed them away, returning his gaze to the now horrified crowd of civilians. " _So_ ," he began, "I hope things are _crystal clear_ about your situation now." He motioned a hand towards Arata, who laid motionless on the ground. "THIS is what will happen to everyone who decides to try and resist us. So I _hope_ no one was planning to try and start a rebellion, because NO ONE is going to be able to save you from us. Not even yourselves…" The trapped civilians all looked amongst one another, then back to Arata. Children began to cry, and defeated sobs sounded out from amongst the crowd.

"…You're wrong…" wheezed a weak voice. Crusade perked and looked around, eventually turning around to see Arata glaring at him as he craned his neck up. "You're…y-you're wrong…" Crusade was unable to help himself from laughing as he began to pace around the panther. Arata's voice faltered as he went on. "You guys… _will_ be stopped…one way or another…"

"That's cute," said Crusade mockingly, "You're so optimistic about your belief that you forgot about the situation you're in." He leaned in and motioned at Arata's crumbled Driver. "Did you already forget that you and this city's precious Amnesia are out of the game?" Arata grimaced and looked away from Crusade, his eyes falling upon the remains of his Driver. "Come _on_ now. People like you should know when it's time to submit." Crusade shook his head and began to walk away.

"N-NO!" Arata suddenly shouted, making Crusade stop in his tracks, "I-I can still—" He stopped suddenly as he went into a coughing fit. "…I can still fight!"

" _Can_ you now?" said Crusade, turning around and folding his arms, "Well then! How about you show us all _exactly_ what you plan to do, huh?" Arata stared back at Crusade with his desperation written all over his face. He looked around himself to try and find something, _anything_ that would allow him to fight. He grimaced and tried to push himself back up, only to find that his arms were too weak to support him. He began to hyperventilate, grabbing at the remaining bits of his Driver in a vain attempt to put it back together.

Crusade shook his head. "This is just outright sad." He turned away and gestured with his hand. "Take him away and lock him up. He won't be bothering us anymore." Several Dopants nodded and walked past Crusade. Arata began to breathe harder, baring his teeth as he tried to get away. He grabbed at everything he could get. The strap of his belt, several chunks of his Driver, his Memory—

He shouted out as he was suddenly seized up by the arms. He struggled against their grip, but he barely put up a fight with how little energy he had in him. Regardless, he struggled and struggled, refusing to admit defeat. He looked around frantically, as if he would somehow find the solution he was looking for.

But then it came to him.

He snarled and bit hard into the arm of one of his captors. The Dopant cried out in pain and let go of Arata, allowing him to do the same to the second Dopant. Both of them dropped him which allowed him to frantically crawl away from their grasp. In a desperate attempt to keep them at bay, he threw the broken pieces of his Driver at the Dopants. He just needed a bit of time. It wouldn't take him long. The sudden rush of adrenaline gave him the strength to climb to his feet and stumble backwards, catching the attention of Crusade and making him turn around. The wounded Dopants recovered and started for the panther, only for Crusade to stop them both. He motioned for them to step back as he stepped forward. "What are you doing?" he asked him in a serious tone.

"I've-I've still got ONE thing I can do," Arata shouted with a trembling voice. Crusade narrowed his eyes. The previously determined tone Arata had held was replaced by one of hesitation, of fear, and of desperation. His eyes were wide, and his body language reminded him of an animal backed up against a corner.

"Kid…" said Crusade carefully, "You're making this more difficult on yourself than this needs to be. Just give in already and—"

"NO!" Arata cut him off, his paws trembling and tightly clenched, "I'm NOT letting you win! I-I won't let you put everyone through another day like Day Zero!" Crusade hissed in frustration.

"You've got nothing LEFT KID!" he shouted, "What else could you do that could pose a threat to us?!"

Arata paused, slowly raising one of his clenched paws. "…This." He roared out and raised his clenched paw up, revealing his Memory. He gripped it in both paws before driving it downwards into his forehead, screaming in pain as the Memory slowly sunk into his head. Everyone shouted and screamed in horror as they watched this terrifying spectacle, with Crusade and his Dopants merely watching in disbelief.

Arata screamed and screamed as the Memory sunk deeper. Suddenly, it shot the rest of the way in, and the panther staggered backwards, eventually falling onto his back. He writhed in pain and gripped his head tightly as pain pounded into his skull.

Large, razor sharp ice shards shot up from the ground around Arata's feet as he himself was rapidly encased within a thick dome of ice, hiding him away and muffling his painful cries. The wind around them began to howl and turn chilly, swirling around the icy dome as it sealed completely. Suddenly, the dome jerked, bulging sporadically as though something inside was ready to burst out. Another bulge, and a crack slithered down the dome. Another bulge, and the crack deepened and splintered. The sounds of screams escaped it, but the screams were no longer of pain. They were of rage, they were of fury, they were of pure hatred. A loud thud sounded from within the dome, and the entire dome shuddered as cracks appeared all over it. The screams grew louder, and the thuds and shudders became more frequent. The ground began to tremor, and the screaming grew in intensity.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded out, and the dome was blown into pieces. Huge ice stalagmites shot out of the ground as a hulking monstrosity threw its head to the sky and let out an earth-tremoring roar that knocked nearly everyone off of their feet. 6 stared back in horror at what had taken Arata's place. It was a twisted image of what Zero had been. A crest adorned its head, and a cloak hung off of his shoulders. However, the crest extended down its face to form a slender mask, and its cloak was scarlet red. Its massive gauntlets dwarfed those of Zero, and its boots were equally as massive. Its entire body shook as it continued to scream out its primal roar into the sky, drowning out the howling winds that stung the skin of the onlookers with frigid levels of cold. Arata was no longer in control. Arata was no longer Zero.

Arata was a Dopant.

Crusade stared back solemnly at this monstrosity and reached for his sabers. "Well, kid," he sighed, "I guess I can't say that you were wrong…" He pried his sabers out from his back and switched them on, holding them out to his sides. The monster abruptly stopped its roar and swung its head down and locked gazes with him. Crusade smirked and brandished his beam sabers against each other. "Now then…let's see if you're worth the trouble…" Arata let out a guttural roar as he stomped forward, shaking the ground with every step. He closed in on Crusade and threw a punch, missing as Crusade side-stepped out of the way. Arata roared again and continued to swing at him, growing all the more enraged as Crusade continued to evade his attacks. "Really?!" Crusade taunted, dodging yet another swing, "You put on that big of an entrance, and _this_ is all you have to show for it?!"

Arata roared out in fury. Though he, or rather whatever was left of him, didn't understand Crusade's words, he certainly recognized the tone. He roared out again and swung his arm wildly to the side. Crusade moved to evade, only to grunt as he felt a frigid wave of wind overtake him and freeze him on the spot in a block of ice. Arata roared out again before stepping forward and slamming his fist into Crusade's chest, pummeling him straight out of the ice and sending him flying across the ground. He grunted as he skid to a stop and sprawled out onto the ground. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Arata screamed at the sky as he stomped towards Crusade. He splayed his fingers out and thrust his arms upward, causing several shards of ice to spontaneously form in the air in front of him. He reeled his arms inwards, and the shards rotated so that their pointed ends pointed right at Crusade. With another roar, he thrusted his arms forward and sent the ice shards shooting through the air at Crusade. The armored coyote narrowly avoided them as he jumped out of the way, causing one of them to sail right into the warehouse. It barely managed to impale an unfortunately placed onlooker as it shot through one of the cages. It flew all the way to the other side of the warehouse and impaled itself onto the opposite wall, where a thick shell of ice began to spread from it.

Arata roared again, completely unbothered by the fact that he had nearly killed an innocent bystander. His rage far overpowered his logic. The only thing that mattered to him now was destroying the one threatening his way of life. He stomped towards Crusade at a slow, yet frightening pace and swung his arm again. Crusade tried to leap forward, but his foot was immediately frozen to the ground. Arata roared again and thrust his arms to the sky, once again producing more razor sharp ice shards. Crusade's heart leapt as the ice shards flew towards him. Unable to evade, he summoned several doubles in front of him and used them as meat shields. The shards shot right through them and destroyed them right away, leaving Crusade defenseless once again. The coyote growled as he slammed the butt ends of his sabers into the block of ice trapping his foot, producing more and more doubles as he tried to stall for time.

As they kept Arata occupied, the block of ice gave way and freed Crusade's foot. Crusade leapt back up and ran at Arata, producing as many doubles as he could and surrounding Arata completely with them. Arata roared out in primal fury, and almost all of the Crusades leapt at him with their sabers raised. Arata thrusted his arms out to his sides, and giant ice spikes shot out from the ground and impaled each of the leaping Crusades, destroying them instantly and emptying the field of them. Crusade growled and produced more and more doubles. As he did, several of the observing Dopants shouted out battle cries and ran in to join the fight. Arata roared as they all approached, throwing powerful punches into any opponent that dared get too close to him. Every single opponent that was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the blow was utterly demolished, leaving behind nothing as their bodies combusted from the impact. Arata thrust his arms up again, causing more ice spikes to shoot up from the ground. They came out like a wave and destroyed a huge portion of the oncoming attackers, taking them out all at once. With the field once again emptied, Arata let out another earth-tremoring roar.

A dopant leapt at him from above, only to be grabbed out of the air by his massive hand. Arata stared the Dopant in the eyes as he roared out and crushed it in his hand, destroying it instantly. But as the smoke settled from its explosion, a Crusade leapt in from behind and struck Arata in the back. Arata snarled and staggered, creating an opening for the attackers to exploit. They all rushed in and attacked at once, staggering him again and again and refusing to allow him a single chance to recover. Arata roared out in pain and fury as he was forced to take each and every blow, unable to defend himself from the onslaught. But that didn't matter to him, as defending was the last thing on his primal mind. He roared out again and thrust his arms to the sky, causing another wave of ice spikes to shoot up from the ground. All of the attackers piled around him were immediately destroyed, clearing the field once again and the spikes swept out in another wave. One of the spikes managed to catch one of the Dopants from afar, and as it was destroyed, so too was a large portion that still remained in the warehouse. An unconscious body fell from where the Dopant had been and toppled to the ground. Several of the other Dopants shouted out and quickly filled the area once again, with several of them rushing towards their fallen ally to evacuate him from the battle ground.

Though reduced, their numbers were still great, so they continued their attack. They began to beat Arata down again, as they had found that it was getting easier to catch him from behind. Arata roared and roared as he once again received blow after blow. He tucked his arms close to his chest, and for a moment, it appeared that Arata was about ready to give in. But that illusion was shattered as he thrust his arms out again and produced a cluster of icicles that shot through the air. They pierced through the attackers unlucky enough to be standing in the way, wiping out almost every Dopant that had managed to reach Arata. The icicles kept going and pierced through Dopant after Dopant, even managing to get to several Crusades. Left and right, bodies were falling, and eventually more Dopants standing in the warehouse disappeared with them.

One of the ones holding 6 vanished, and she immediately took that moment of opportunity to free herself from the other. The Dopant was about to run after her, but stopped as Crusade shouted out, "Don't bother! We have bigger problems to deal with here!" Cries of pain filled everyone's ears as another wave of ice spikes swept through the area, clearing the field once more. "In fact, get our prisoners out of here! Release them all! They're no good to us dead!" 6 gasped in shock and whirled around. "What are you waiting for?!" Crusade barked at the Dopants, "Get moving and get them out of here!" The Dopants hastened themselves and got to work, breaking open the doors of each cage and rushing them out. Everyone hurried out as quick as they could, wanting to get as far away as possible from this place. 6 recollected herself before joining in on the efforts, shouting to everyone to try and bring order in the panicked chaos by guiding them away.

As they ran, the other Dopants uttered out battle cries and headed for the rampaging beast. Arata continued to roar out as he destroyed crowd after crowd. Ice shards flew everywhere, with some managing to nick several unfortunate citizens as they ran. This led everyone else still lagging behind to hasten themselves further as they ran for their lives. As 6 guided the furs still getting out of their cages, she glanced back at the raging battle behind her. _What do I do?_ she thought, _What even_ can _I do?_

Arata's primal roar swept up air as he obliterated the Dopants in front of him, clearing the way for him to lock gazes with Crusade. Arata roared again and barreled towards him, however several doubles of him jumped in the way and impeded his progress. Though they proved to be far more formidable than any of the Dopants, they did little to stop him. Within only a few blows, Arata annihilated all of them. The Dopants flooded the area again and tried to overtake him, but another wave of ice spikes made short work of them. Crusade sent more doubles after Arata, sending them in waves of his own so as to slow him down efficiently. And it appeared to be working, as he was beginning to show signs of fatigue. Though his attacks were still devastatingly powerful, they were far slower than before. "Keep at it!" Crusade barked, summoning more doubles, "The boy's about ready to fall!" The Dopants let out battle cries as they rushed in again. Arata roared at them again, though the roar lacked the intensity from before. Crusade's suspicions were further supported; he was burning out. Rather than sounding like a hulking monstrosity, Arata now sounded like an injured predator backed up against a wall.

"URAAA!" Arata roared out as his legs suddenly gave out beneath him, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. The Dopants let out another battle cry as they closed in on him. Arata grunted and growled in pain with each blow as he was mercilessly assaulted. He struggled to try and rise back up to his feet, but he simply didn't have the strength to do so. Sharp snaps sounded out as Arata's body and armor began to crack. With each blow from the Dopants' metal, the cracks spread and branched. Arata's growls and grunts quickly became cries of pain as he took more and more blows. He tried to lash out at the Dopants' feet, but there was still far too many for him to handle. And as the crowd beat on Arata, Crusade turned off one of his sabers and stashed it away.

"You put up a damn good fight, kid," he said, prying his Memory out of his belt, "But it's time that you gave it a rest…" He jammed his Memory into the slot at the bottom of his other saber.

CRUSADE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

The saber shut off momentarily before it began to surge more intensely. Crusade gripped the handle in both paws as the saber raged outward and lengthened to twice its size. "Everyone clear the way!" he shouted at his crew. The Dopants immediately backed away and exposed Arata to the open, who still remained on his hands and knees. He growled and tried to struggle back up. Though it didn't seem like he would be able to get up anytime soon, Crusade decided against taking his chances. He let out a roar as he swung his saber and pulled its trigger, causing the beam to be hurled from the handle and barrel towards the downed Arata. Arata roared in pain as the attack swept through him, demolishing his armor and causing his body to shatter. A large cloud of ice exploded outwards as Crusade's attack went through Arata. Once it settled, Arata's normal body fell to the ground with him knocked out cold. As he hit the ground, his Memory snaked out of his head and clattered onto the ground next to him.

6, who had just finished escorting the last remaining citizen to safety, whirled around to see that Arata had finally fallen. Her heart dropped as her eyes fell upon his unconscious body. She clenched her eyes shut and turned away; she knew there was nothing she could do for him. With bared teeth, she ran off and away from the battle scene.

Crusade panted heavily as he walked over to Arata's side. He eventually reached him and bent down to pick up his Memory, standing up straight and inspecting it closely. He suddenly found himself chuckling. He clenched the Memory tightly in his paw as his chuckles escalated into laughs. Then, with a loud cry, he turned around and thrust the Memory into the air. The Dopants joined him in his cry of victory, thrusting their blades into the air. They did this again and again, letting their loud cries echo through the air for all to hear. And though many had fled the scene, the Dopants' cries fell upon the ears of one individual who had been watching from afar. It was Erika, who was hidden between buildings several blocks away. She struggled to suppress her tears as she watched them all converge on Arata and take him away. Soon enough, he along with Crusade and his Dopants disappeared into the warehouse and from the snow leopard's sight. She closed her eyes and wiped her tears away with her paw as she turned away. And with a heavy heart, she too left the scene.

* * *

1, 6, 2 and Tech all sat silently in their base, grim expressions across all of their faces. No one needed to say anything, as they all knew what was on each other's minds. Despite this, they all knew that something needed to be said. It was 6 that finally decided to break the silence.

"Well…" she began, "at the very least, the Dopants' numbers are down."

"They have our recovery pod, 6," replied 1, "They'll be back to full strength in a matter of hours." 6 lowered her ears and looked down, silencing herself and once again leaving the room uncomfortably quiet. After a few seconds, the silence was broken once again, though not by any of the occupants of the room. Rather, it was Tech's phone ringing from her pocket. She jerked violently in surprise before pulling it out of her pocket and answering the call.

"Hello?" she asked.

"…Tech…" came a familiar voice, "…it's me…"

The fox immediately sat up from her seat and looked to the others. "It's Erika," she announced before turning the call to speaker. "Erika, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm…fine," she answered in a half-hearted tone, "I was able to hide in my old lab after Arata broke us out the first time…"

"That's good," said Tech, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'm glad to hear that you're safe." For a moment, Erika didn't say anything to respond.

"…I saw what happened to Arata…" she finally said. Once again, the room fell to silence. "I think I know how Arata feels now," she went on, "to watch people you care about and have to abandon them without doing anything… I felt… _terrible_ watching all of that happen to Arata… Watching him struggle so hard to rescue everyone… I wanted to _help_ him but…I felt so _powerless_ …" She suddenly choked, and she didn't say anything for a while. Eventually, she managed to recollect herself and ask, "Are you guys gonna go and rescue him?"

Again, no one knew how to answer her. Eventually Tech spoke up and said, "We're working things out right now. Things are really difficult for us at the moment, and our firepower isn't exactly at its highest point…" Erika didn't respond for a moment. "…Erika?" called Tech.

"…Yes?"

Tech closed her eyes and sighed before continuing. "I'm sure you already know what I'm about to ask you." Erika didn't respond to her statement, so she went on, "Listen, I know you still regret what happened with the Valkyrie… I know you're still scared of something like that happening again… But I don't think I need to tell you how much we need your help right now. We need you. The _city_ needs you. _Arata_ needs you." Still, Erika said nothing in response. "Erika, I've done my best to adjust the Memory we designed. And at this point, I'm almost certain that something like that won't happen again to you. So _please_ …can you help us?"

Erika scrunched her eyes closed as tears began to pour out of them. She pressed her paw over her muzzle as she tried to muffle her cries and hide them from Tech. She knew that she wanted to go and help, but she also knew how much she feared allowing a monster like the Valkyrie run rampant once again. Though she tried her hardest to keep herself quiet, Tech and the others could clearly hear how much turmoil she was in. Just as Tech was about to say something, static began to sound out from one of the radios in the room.

"Team Amnesia, come in," came a voice, "Can you hear us?" 1 quickly left his seat and went over to the radio, picking up the receiver and holding it close to his muzzle.

"This is their commander speaking," he said, "Who is this?"

"This is commander Red of Team Rose," the voice replied, "We are aware of what's going on in your city, and we are now prepared to infiltrate the city and provide assistance." Everyone else in the room sat up in excitement and sighed in relief. As they fought to contain themselves, 1 responded.

"That's good to hear," he began, "Set up a rendezvous point and my team will meet you there."

As he and Red began organizing, Tech switched her call off of speaker and held her phone close to her ear. "Erika?" she said, "It'd be really helpful if you came in too. If you don't think you're up for it, then we understand. Just stay where you are and stay safe. But if you think you can manage to come back in and help, then just make sure that you get to the base safely. Alright?" Tech only heard a slight mumble in response. She sighed and went on, knowing that she wouldn't be getting a response. "I'm hanging up now, alright? Just, whatever you do, be careful… Bye…"

Soon, 1's transmission ended as well, and the room was once again left to silence. Everyone looked amongst one another with knowing looks. 1 was the first one to speak up. "Alright everyone," he began, "rest up. Because in a couple of hours, we need to be ready for a rally." He then turned his gaze over to Tech. "And that _includes you_."

Tech chuffed and smiled at him. "I figured you'd say that."

* * *

Down the roads leading to Jinsoku, a horde of bikers was racing towards the city. The bikers were all covered in a suit similar to that of Amnesia's troopers, the only difference being the red domes covering their faces. Taking the lead of the group was a rider in crimson red armor, Commander Red.

"Team Amnesia?" said one of the troopers, "This is Team Rose. We are approaching Jinsoku and will be arriving shortly. Over."

"Roger that," came 1's voice, "We're already at the rendezvous point. We will be waiting for you there. Over."

"Copy that. Over," replied the trooper. As they raced down the road, Red narrowed his eyes.

 _Something's not right_ , he thought, _How have we gotten this far so easily?_ He looked closer and realized that the street itself looked off. Suddenly, his eyes caught on to something in the road. His heart skipped a beat as a realization hit him. "EVERYONE STOP!" he shouted, hitting the brakes on his bike. All of the other troopers followed suit, but as Red quickly discovered, they hit a slick spot covering the road. As a result, their bikes barely even slowed as they slid across the slick surface. And as they slid along, several troopers' bikes exploded into pieces. Red bared his teeth as he managed to spot the land mines covering the road. He swerved and swayed as he tried to weave between them all and avoid hitting them. But as they continued to advance, more and more troopers slid into land mines and were blown away as their bikes exploded into pieces. Eventually, Red managed to bring his to a stop. He let out a sigh of relief and looked back to see how many of his troops were left. After counting them off, he could see that there was barely a dozen or so still standing, with everyone else either too injured to get back up, or just flat out unconscious.

"Dammit," Red cursed under his breath, "those bastards had enough time to set all of this up…" He perked as his ears picked up chanting in the distance. He quickly dismounted his vehicle, and his troopers followed suit. "Everyone get in formation! We've got company!" As his remaining troopers took position, he opened up a compartment in his bike and pulled out a scarlet rose from it. With it in paw, he walked over to the front of his troopers and held his other paw up as they armed themselves. Red lowered his raised paw and reached for his Driver, plucking out the Memory inside. He narrowed his eyes as he began to pick up movement from within the city. He began to tense. _Easy there,_ he thought, _I've prepared for this so long ago already… Now's the time I prove myself…_ He took a deep breath in and eased it out slowly. And with determination burning in his eyes, he slammed his Memory into the slot at his side.

RrrRED: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

With a grunt, he tossed the rose in his paw into the air. Before it could get very far, it burst into a cloud of rose petals that swept around him and his troopers wildly. Red reached his paw out to the side, and rose petals began to gather near it and cluster together. Within a matter of seconds, the rose petals formed a slender rapier that Red gripped tightly and took on a proper fencing stance with. From beyond the rose petals, Red could see a crowd of Dopants emerging from the city and rushing towards them. Red bared his teeth and thrusted his rapier forward before crying out, "CHARGE!" His troopers uttered out battle cries as they all charged forward and opened fire.

The Dopants blocked with their shields as they closed in on the troopers. Within a few moments, the two crowds converged and a large scale skirmish broke out. Swords clashed against armor, and blasts rang out through the sky as the fight raged on. Sparks were flying and mixing with the rose petals that were still swirling around in the air. Red grit his teeth as he fought and struggled. Though his swordsmanship proved to be superior to the Dopants, their sheer numbers were beginning to overpower him. He swung wide and leapt backwards as he held out a paw to the side. A cloud of petals clustered there, and once they condensed, they formed a slender, thorny whip. Red landed on his feet before snapping his whip around to repel the Dopants. He landed several critical strikes on some of them with his rapier, but as expected, more and more doubles formed to make up for the lost ones.

Red hissed through his teeth as his troops went down one by one. The team was struggling to keep it together under such an unrelenting assault. But just as things were beginning to appear dire, several blasts were shot from behind the army of Dopants. Red and his team looked up to see a relieving sight. Team Amnesia had emerged from the city to join in the fight.

"Sorry for the wait, Team Rose," came Tech's voice as they fought, "We're here to provide back up!"

"About time!" Red exclaimed. With a roar, he hurled his rapier at a Dopant and thrust his freed paw out. Petals clustered around it and formed a sturdy saber. Red gripped it tightly as he fought his way through the crowd. With Amnesia attacking from one side and Rose attacking from the other, the fight began to tilt away from a one-sided battle. Eventually, Red reached 1, and the two of them went back to back.

"What are your numbers at right now?" 1 asked, blasting away several Dopants.

"Down to about 9 or 10," Red answered, cracking his whip at several approaching Dopants, "Lost some on the way here."

"Let's retreat and regroup," 1 said, kicking a Dopant back, "We'll strategize for a proper retaliation then."

"Got it," replied Red, "Lead the way." One of 1's fingers went to the side of his helmet.

"Attention all troops!" he exclaimed, "It's time for a tactical retreat! Fall back!"

"But sir! What about the others?!" shouted one of Red's troopers.

"These guys only take hostages!" shouted Tech as she blasted a Dopant, "They'll be fine! We just need to move!" 1 reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a grenade. He pulled the pin and tossed it into the crowd of Dopants. The grenade burst, clearing a way for Red's troopers.

"Let's GO!" Red shouted at them, "GET MOVING!" The troopers did as they were told and rushed for the created opening. As they ran through, everyone took formation with one another. They rushed through Jinsoku's streets, fending off their attackers as best as they could. But even as they kept the initial crowd at bay, more Dopants leapt down from the nearby buildings and joined in on the fight. As they fought, Tech chucked flashbangs at the Dopants, warding them off and disrupting their formations. With their combined efforts, Team Amnesia and Rose managed to get through a good portion of the city. However, they were suddenly cut off from the other side by another crowd of Dopants, and they were forced into a large scale battle.

"KEEP PUSHING THROUGH!" 1 shouted to everyone, "DON'T LET UP ON YOUR ATTACKS!"

* * *

Arata let out a low groan as he slowly came to his senses. His head was pounding, and he was hurting in every conceivable spot of his body. He hissed through his teeth as he tried to move around. He still couldn't see clearly, but he could tell that he had been tied up and restrained. He clenched his eyes closed in an attempt to clear his vision. Little by little, his vision cleared up. Eventually, he was able to make out at least a few shapes. He shifted around a bit and realized that he was tied up against some sort of pillar. His arms and legs were tied against either side of it, preventing him from being able to move around freely. He tried to shout out, but his voice was hoarse and his throat was dry. He cringed and blinked his eyes several times; his vision still remained blurred.

He jerked as he heard the muffled sounds of a voice. He tried to look around for its potential owner, but his vision still provided him with little to work with. His ears perked as the voice came again, this time a little clearer. Arata shook his head, growling as he tried to clear up his senses. Again, he jerked as he felt a paw grab him roughly by his chin and force him to face upwards. "Wakey wakey, kid," came the voice. Arata snarled. He could hear it clearly now, and now he recognized who its owner was. He blinked several times, and as he expected, he was looking into the eyes of a familiar coyote.

Crusade.

Arata bared his teeth at the coyote and struggled against his bonds. Crusade laughed at his fruitless efforts before letting go of his chin and taking a single step back to look down upon him. "So you're finally up," said Crusade in a taunting manner as the panther glared daggers at him, "How're you feeling?"

"Peachy," Arata spat. Crusade chuckled and walked off to the side, escaping Arata's restrained line of sight.

"Are you _sure_ if you're feeling alright?" asked Crusade from wherever he had gone. Arata scoffed.

"And why would _you_ want to know?" he asked, "Why would a person like _you_ be concerned over my wellbeing?"

"Do you not _remember_ what happened to you several hours ago?" Crusade asked, still out of the feline's sight. Arata furrowed a brow, contemplating what exactly he meant by that. But little by little, memories began to return to him. Soon enough, Arata's heart was racing a mile a minute. He frantically swung his head around as he searched around the area for his Driver. His search came to an abrupt stop as Crusade came back into view, waving his Freeze Memory in his paw. Arata's eyes went wide as they locked on to the device. "You remember _now_?" Crusade asked with a toothy grin.

"How did you get my—" Arata stopped himself as more memories returned to him. First his memory of what had happened to his Driver, and then his memory of what had happened to himself. Arata's ears flattened against his head as a feeling of remorse washed over him. In his desperation, he had become what he sought to defeat. He barely even registered Crusade as he went over and took a seat nearby.

"Honestly, you surprised me with that little stunt of yours," he said to him, returning Arata's focus to him, "I never knew how far you were willing to go to protect a bunch of citizens that we had no intention of harming."

This statement seemed to snap Arata right back into his defiant state. "You're KIDDING me, right?!" he shouted, "You think I'd buy that from the people responsible for kidnapping everyone and holding them against their will?!"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm expecting you to think," Crusade snapped, "At least once you cool that hot head of yours."

"You _can't_ be serious," growled Arata, using his gaze to once again glare at Crusade with hatred.

"Oh but I am," Crusade replied, undeterred by Arata's death stare, "Tell me, have you thought about the fact that we're merely keeping everyone in cages? Have you thought about the fact that no one in that warehouse had ever been dealt any harm?"

Arata growled and shook his head in defiance, still not fully able to think straight just yet. "So what about your stupid demonstrations then, huh?! How about explaining THOSE?!"

Crusade broke out into laughter and stepped away, shaking his head. "You think anyone actually got _hurt_ in those?" he asked, making Arata lower his ears. It was then that he realized that he had a point. He had never seen a single injured person when he was inside the warehouse. Arata shook his head defiantly.

"Well, it's not like you couldn't have hurt them when I _wasn't_ there to see." Again, Crusade laughed.

"Well by that logic, _you_ could've hurt them!" He tossed his paws up in the air. "Anything's possible if you keep things vague enough after all." Arata found himself growling.

"I don't have a _motive_ to do such a thing—"

"And who says that _we do_ , huh?" Crusade cut in, "What would we have to gain by hurting our customers?" Arata recoiled suddenly, taken aback by the statement.

"Customers?" he questioned, "What do you mean, 'customers?'"

"I mean exactly that," Crusade said, pointing Arata's Memory at him before pacing around the room again. "You see, kid, my crew and I were contracted to take this city under siege." Crusade gave the panther a sideward glance. "Tell me, does The Earth's Tree ring any bells for you?"

Arata glared at Crusade. "I've had a run in with them once or twice." The coyote smirked at the statement before continuing.

"So then, I'm assuming that you're familiar with their advertising tactics?"

Arata withdrew again. "Advertising?! You call using Dopants to attack citizens and endanger their lives advertising?!"

"Ahhh," said Crusade, pointing a finger up, "But _that's_ where you're wrong, kid. Those Dopants have been doing the _exact_ same thing that my crew and I have been doing. Something that we've been doing ever since we _began_ this attack. All that they've been doing is giving the people a good scare and demonstrating what kind of power the Gaia Memories can give to them." Arata stared back at Crusade speechless. He was having difficulty believing in what he had just heard. "All of these 'attacks' you've seen have been nothing but advertisement campaigns. They're meant to _encourage_ their customers to buy into them is all. It's like an exhibition, a demonstration, demos and the like. _Completely_ harmless."

"MY FRIEND WAS SHOT IN THE LEG!" Arata shouted abruptly, seeming to tremble with anger. Crusade raised a brow at him. A look of confusion went across his features.

"Huh…is that so?" he asked with a genuine tone of confusion, "And…are you sure that it was a deliberate shot to the leg?" Arata was caught off guard by this question. It took him a moment for him to come up with an answer.

"W-well, we were running away from being shot at, so w-why would you even care?! What does it matter to you anyways?!" Crusade shook his head and waved a paw dismissively.

"What matters to me won't matter to you," he replied, "All that matters is that one freak accident won't change the truth. The fact of the matter is that The Earth's Tree isn't out to hurt anyone, and neither is my crew and I." Arata found himself snarling again.

"Tell that to the members of Amnesia who are STILL in the hospital!"

"AH yes, the Muscle attack," Crusade said with a nod, "Those Amnesia folks sure did take a number. But let me remind you; _they_ were the ones that chose to attack, when the only thing Muscle was damaging was property." Crusade leaned in slightly. And one _last_ thing that you seem to forget; nearly _all_ attacks have been led by _customers_. It _is_ a _business_ after all, and _all_ The Earth's Tree does is sell products. _They_ aren't responsible for what their _customers_ do with them." Arata growled at the coyote, though he was unable to come up with anything to respond with. Crusade huffed and stood straight once more. "But I suppose you're right. There is a _bit_ of responsibility to be had. After all, not everyone can come out of this unscathed. No one's perfect after all." He smirked and gave the panther a sideward glance. "Like _you_ for example, when you rammed a purified Memory into yourself to become a rampaging Dopant." Arata merely growled and pressed his lips together.

"So what's your point then?" he spat at Crusade, "Are you just trying to make yourself seem as 'clean' as that company?"

Crusade rolled his eyes. "Well, if you were _listening,_ then you'd know that my crew and I were _contracted_ by them." Arata caught his breath at the mention. "Do you get it _now_?" Crusade went on, " _None_ of this is for real. It's all just a _show_! A big ad campaign to get people interested in buying Memories!"

Arata was beginning to find himself torn, unsure of what to make of this. His distress showed as he struggled to come up with a retort. "Well…why go to such extremes then?!"

"Because it's kind of _hard_ to sell products to people when they don't think they need said products," Crusade retorted. A look of confusion went across Arata's face, and the coyote went on. "Tell me, have you ever thought about the fact that society seems to only want important things when they need them, and _only_ then? Take a look at your own city. Even _after_ the events of Day Zero, there were such _low_ amounts of interest for Memories."

Arata snarled. "Well that's because—"

"Don't tell me," Crusade cut him off, "It's because no one thought they _needed_ them, not with your city's precious _Amnesia_." Crusade openly chuffed at that. "Despite _numerous_ amounts of Dopants running around the world, _and_ the presence of underground sellers in the _city itself_ , no one wanted to buy one for the sake of self-defense." The canine leaned in slightly. "You see, kid, _that_ is why The Earth's Tree is even here in the first place. They're going to give everyone that final, convincing push that will get everyone to start buying them up."

Arata snarled harshly. "I can hardly call that a _convincing_ push. If anything, it's almost FORCEFUL!"

Crusade laughed, "Well _that's_ a little close-minded, don't you think?" He shook his head and went on. "No one is being forced here. Everyone that's being advertised to is still in _total_ control of their own decisions. All The Earth's Tree and my crew are doing is showing them how relevant Memories are to their daily lives. Besides, even _if_ The Earth's Tree were to suddenly stop selling here, it wouldn't cause all of the _other_ Dopants to magically disappear. They'd still be running around, probably _with_ the intent of harming someone." Crusade smiled down at Arata, who was still glaring daggers at him. "Do you see _now?_ All we want to do is _help_ everyone."

As much as Arata hated it, he was finding it harder and harder to not see the coyote's point. It took him a bit to come up with something to say. "Well, if you really _do_ want to help, then why not just give Memories away, or teach everyone how to make them?" Crusade laughed again, this time with much more amusement than before.

"They're a _business_ , kid, not a _charity_. Memories aren't just made from thin air. They require _resources_. Resources cost _money_. If they were to stop selling and just start handing out Memories willy-nilly, then the _company_ would be the one in need of help." Crusade shook his head. "Besides, do you even know how _difficult_ it is to acquire the proper materials for those things? And don't even get me _started_ on the conditions you need to be in."

Arata growled again, still finding difficulty in finding counterarguments. "Well…why go to such extremes?! I still don't understand that!" At that, the pleasant expression that Crusade had been wearing all but disappeared. He frowned and looked off to the side, pursing his lips.

"With society as it is, we _need_ to take things to the extreme," he replied somberly, "Nowadays, people prefer to live in peace and comfort. They choose to ignore the events happening around them. If something happens that doesn't directly involve them, it's all too likely that they won't do anything about it." Crusade turned back to Arata with a serious expression across his features. "We're just making them realize that this _does_ involve them." Arata could only stare back at him; he had been rendered completely speechless at this point. Regardless, Crusade carried on. "Haven't you noticed how everyone does things at the _last minute_? An earthquake happens, and _then_ people buy earthquake insurance. Someone gets robbed, and _then_ they install security features in their house. Someone gets diagnosed with a serious disease, and _then_ they start improving their lives. Again and again, people have to be _shown_ that they need to change their ways, and it's almost always just _before_ or right _after_ something terrible happens…" Crusade shook his head and paced the room as he continued. "I don't expect someone like you to sympathize with what I'm saying. And I don't blame you; this is a pretty dangerous method of advertising. I've already witnessed how out of hand it can get…"

Arata's heart pounded at this. "…W…what do you mean?"

Crusade suddenly stopped in his tracks, keeping his gaze away from Arata as he stood there. Eventually, he broke the silence in the room and asked, "Day Zero…you've heard of it?"

Arata's heart pounded even harder at the question. "Yeah…" he replied reluctantly, "…what about it?" Crusade pursed his lips. It took him a moment before he answered Arata.

"That day…was our first attempt at this type of marketing." At that, Arata's heart all but stopped. His jaw fell agape as the coyote went on. "It was never meant to escalate as much as it did, but things started to go down the drain once the counterattack team came in and started shooting my crew down…" He grimaced and bore his teeth. "Once we started getting hurt, everyone just started acting on their own."

Arata's gaze slowly lowered to the ground and hung his head low. He started to feel a mess of emotions begin to well up inside of him. Anger, hate, confusion, all of it melting together into an unidentifiable mess. "So…you're telling me…that the day that hundreds of people were messed up by…and are STILL trying to get over…the day that lives in infamy here…and the day where several people lost their lives, and others became scarred for life…was nothing…but a STUPID AD CAMPAIGN?!"

Crusade kept his gaze away from Arata's. "…Yes…that's what I'm telling you…"

All of the welled up emotions boiling inside of Arata suddenly burst out all at once. He roared in fury and struggled against his bonds, ignoring the pain as the bonds began to cut into his skin. "I lost TWO FAMILY MEMBERS BECAUSE OF THAT!"

Crusade's expression turned somber. "…I see…"

"You SEE?!" Arata roared hysterically, "THAT'S all you have to say about that?!"

Crusade suddenly snarled and whipped his gaze back over to Arata. "It's NOT like I don't feel GUILT for the things that happened on that day!" he snapped back, "But when change needs to be made at this kind of scale, some sacrifices are bound to be made!"

"SACRIFICES?!" Arata roared, "They are PEOPLE, DAMMIT! They're NOT just resources to be burnt out!"

"I'M THINKING ABOUT THE GREATER GOOD HERE!" Crusade barked. A heavy silence hung between them as they stared each other down. Eventually, Crusade chuffed and shook his head before turning away. "We knew the laws that we were breaking when we attacked the city," he went on, "and we knew the dangers that both us and the city would be going through. My crew and I just live with the knowledge that we will never be thanked for changing the ways of the world, and instead face hatred from the people we were trying to change, and guilt over any blood that was spilled by our hands…" Both furs' perked slightly as they heard a loud bang sound through the walls of the building. Crusade stared at the wall for a moment before pocketing Arata's Memory and walking off. "Sorry, but I'm out of time to chat," he said as he walked out of the room, "It's time that I got back to changing the world…"

* * *

Loud bangs continued to fill the air as the teams Amnesia and Rose fought their way through the city in an effort to reach their safe point. Unfortunately for them, there were far too many Dopants around them that were preventing them from being able to reach said point. Regardless, both teams struggled onwards and tried to push through with their waning stamina.

"Everyone cluster!" shouted Red over the chaos. The team members all followed his order, and in one instance, the rose petals swirling around them all shot outwards and slammed into one another, forming a protective shell around both teams. This granted them a momentary peace, though one that they didn't allow themselves to enjoy. "This thing won't hold for long," Red alerted the others as they all caught their breaths.

"There's _no_ way that we're going to be able to keep going like this," 6 gasped, bracing her paws on her knees.

"We _have_ to keep fighting, 6," said 1, "We're the only ones left now!"

"Well _unless_ Erika decides to fight, our chances of winning this are slim to none," 6 snapped.

"We are the ONLY ones left, 6!" 2 barked at her, "Like it or not, we HAVE to make do." The artic fox then turned her attention to the other members. "Look, we just have to escape for the time being so that we've got higher numbers for _another_ attack, one when we _know_ where that recovery pod is being held."

Before anyone could reply, a sharp crack sounded from the crimson dome protecting them all. Without warning, the entire thing shattered into pieces and Crusade came barging in with both sabers in hand. Everyone hastily scrambled as their cover was literally blown apart and moved back into action. Both teams struggled as they fought against Crusade and his army of Dopants.

 _Come on, Erika,_ Tech prayed as she fought, _Prove me right. We really need you right now!_

* * *

Deep within her hidden bunker, Erika lay curled up in a tight ball on the floor. She could hear the sounds of the ongoing battle coming from outside. Though she herself appeared calm and blank on the outside, her mind was in turmoil. Similar to outside, there was a raging battle going on within her head. To fight or to remain hidden. To allow the city to be taken, or to endanger everyone's lives by giving the Valkyrie another chance to run wild. It was these questions that ran through Erika's mind in every different form and phrasing possible.

 _What would Arata do in a time like this?_ She rolled her eyes. _Who am I kidding? He would've been out the door and rushing towards the fight by now, as stupid and reckless as that is…_ Suddenly, she found herself smiling. _Then again, that's just Arata in a nutshell…_ Another moment of silence passed over her. Eventually, she sighed through her nose and uncurled herself, pulling out her phone and dialing Tech's number.

* * *

Back on the battlefield, the two teams still struggled to keep up with Crusade and his seemingly unending onslaught of Dopants and doubles. As they fought, several of Team Rose's troopers were going down and falling to the ground unarmored. As soon as they fell, Dopants swarmed around them and took them away. Eventually, even 1 joined them in the downfall and went down, collapsing to the ground and getting pulled away by the surrounding Dopants. "1!" exclaimed Tech. A loud bang sounded off to the side. She turned to see 6 going down as well, having a similar fate as 1. Tech grit her teeth as she and the remaining troopers tried to fight the army off for as long as they could. They all knew the futility of their efforts, though no one wished to say.

"Keep fighting, everyone!" Red shouted over the chaos, "Don't give up until the very end!" 6 felt the urge to retort, but the ferocity of the battle kept her from doing so. And as the fighting continued, Tech found herself at the receiving end of a call. She glanced down at her display to find that it was Erika who was calling her. After batting several people away and blasting them back with her gun, she hit the answer button on her helmet.

"I'm ready," Erika said, skipping a greeting entirely, "Where can I find my stuff?" Tech audibly cheered upon hearing this.

"In the only usable room left!" Tech shouted back as the Dopants she blasted away came rushing back in at her, "The desk at the far right! It's over there!"

"Got it," she heard Erika reply before the sounds of rustling were heard.

"Be careful!" Tech shouted before getting struck by one of the Dopants' blades, "Urgh, and HURRY!" The call ended at that, and Erika rushed out of her hut as fast as she could. With the call over, Tech raised her head to shout to her fellow troopers. However, just as she turned, she saw 2 fall to the ground, followed by several members of Team Rose. As they all fell, Crusade rose up from the ground with his twin beam sabers held out to his sides menacingly. Tech tensed as their gazes locked together.

 _Gotta hurry,_ Erika chanted as she rushed through the street at a breakneck speed, _gotta hurry gotta hurry gotta hurry…_

Before Crusade got very far, Red jumped in between them and swung at him with his rapier. "You fight me!" he shouted as he snapped his whip forward, striking the ground at Crusade's feet and making him step back. As the two of them fought, Tech struggled against the surrounding Dopants.

Erika screeched to a halt as she reached the edge of the Amnesia facility. As soon as she had a clear path, she ran through all of the remaining rubble and debris littering the area. It didn't take long before she came across the alleged remaining room. She barged into it and frantically looked around, quickly spotting her Memory and Driver.

Shouts were heard as more Rose troopers fell, leaving Red to be the only standing member of his team. Red growled loudly before lunging forward at Crusade, thrusting his rapier and cracking his whip.

Erika rushed over to the table holding her equipment and grabbed them up. She cringed as she looked down at them and took in a deep breath before slapping her Driver onto her waist, causing a silver belt to snake around her form.

"KYIAH!" Red shouted as he slashed at Crusade again, barely managing to scrape his chest armor with the tip of his rapier. Red growled again and cracked his whip again, allowing for enough time to allow a cluster of petals to clamp onto his blade and morph it into a thick saber. As Crusade backed off, Red gripped his new saber and swung it around, knocking away any Dopant that ventured too close. He whirled his whip around as petals came closing in around it. Once they came into contact with it, even sharper and longer thorns decorated the whip. Red cracked it again, and a whole crowd of surrounding Dopants were struck back, leaving only one of the Crusades before him. However, that one Crusade soon became five, and all of them rushed Red at once. Red snarled as he tried to whip them all back. However, their beam sabers proved to be effective against his whip, as the beams sliced clean through the whip. As a result, all of them closed in on Red and attacked, forcing him into a close quarters fight. Though Red fought valiantly, he was no match for the sheer numbers that the Crusades had over him. Eventually, he too fell to the ground defeated.

Tech's heart raced as all eyes fell upon her. She was the only one left. There was no one else to back her up now. She was all alone. All of the Dopants slowly began to close in on her, their swords held out in front of them. Tech snarled and thrust her gun forward, her paws trembling as she switched back and forth between targets to aim at. Crusade chuffed as he watched, turning off one of his beams as he too began to approach.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Crusade's head jerked up as a light erupted from behind him. He whirled around and looked up in time to see several waves of energy rain down upon the battlefield. Crusade acted quickly and leapt out of the way as the waves collided with clusters of Dopants, obliterating them and leaving nothing behind. Explosions swept the area and filled it with dust, disorienting everyone still left standing. Crusade snarled and tried to swipe the dust away from his eyes. Through the dust, he could see a shining figure landing in the middle of the battlefield. Crusade grabbed his other saber and sparked it to life, gripping both tightly as he waited for the dust to clear.

Once it did, the figure rose to its feet and stood before the onlookers. She was dressed in white armor with a yellow under suit, with golden "wings" decorating her helmet. In her hand, she held a slender long-sword, and behind her, a pair of glowing yellow wings were spread out wide. At this point, Crusade had no doubt in his mind as to who this was. He huffed with a smirk, switching off his sabers before folding his arms. " _So,_ " he began, " _You're_ the one I was warned about. It's nice of you to finally make an appearance, Valkyrie."

The Valkyrie whirled around and took on a stiff stance, gripping her blade in both hands and aiming it at him. She snarled and her wings vanished as her gaze shifted back and forth between him and the Dopants surrounding her. Though unnoticed by her adversaries, her heart was pounding in her chest. _Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to fight…on the spot…_ Erika thought, keeping a tight grip on her blade.

"Of course," Crusade went on, "it's only _natural_ to be cautious around a bloodthirst killer."

Erika noticeably flinched as the memory of her unfortunate victim came flooding back in. The grip on her blade slackened as renewed grief came over her. However, she shook her head firmly and composed herself, once again gripping her blade properly as she fixed her stance and replied, "I'm not going to deny what happened, and I won't that there are debts that need to be paid. So until the time comes that I turn myself in, I'll correct my wrongs by protecting the city!"

Crusade chuffed and raised a paw up, motioning to the Dopants still surrounding Tech. "Take her out of here," he commanded them, "and the rest of you, focus on the Valkyrie. She takes top priority…" Tech's grunts and growls of defiance sounded through the air as she was taken away. Once she was gone, all of the remaining Dopants charged at Erika at once. Erika's heart throbbed as they all came at her. She hastily slashed out at as many as she could. And though she managed to land a hit on some, all of the rest came in from behind and landed several strikes to her body. Erika cried out in pain as she took the blows and whirled around to strike back, struggling to keep up with the sheer amount of attacks coming at her at once. Off to the side, Crusade laughed with amusement.

"Is _this_ the supposed Valkyrie we were supposed to be worried about?" he taunted, keeping his sabers shut off as he watched from afar.

Erika began to panic; she was beginning to realize how in over her head she was. She continued to struggle against the horde of Dopants and reached down to the sundial on her belt.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a roar, she swung her blade upwards and hurled an energy wave through the crowd. The wave destroyed the cluster of Dopants that were unable to get away from it, leaving a wide opening in the crowd in front of her. Erika's heart leapt upon seeing her success, but it sunk back down as more and more doubles of Dopants materialized and filled up the newly open space. Just like that, the fight resumed as though nothing had happened. _Is this it?_ Erika thought, _Is this how I die?_

 _Why would you fear death at such a time as this?_ Erika faltered; that hadn't been her own thoughts. Someone else was talking in her head.

 _Wait a minute,_ she replied, _…you're the Valkyrie, aren't you?!_ Erika cried out suddenly as she was struck sharply across the back. She snarled and cast her arms out, causing her wings to spread out and blow the surrounding Dopants back. With a clap of her wings, Erika took to the air and flew down the street. All of the Dopants shouted out as they chased after her. _Why are you in my head?! What do you want?!_

 _I've been observing your behavior for quite some time now,_ the Valkyrie replied, _and your hesitation in fighting confuses me._

Erika's heart leapt. _You've been…watching me?!_

 _Ever since you took back control over your own body, yes,_ she answered the snow leopard, _and though there are slew of other questions I wish to ask you, the one that I first proposed piques my interest. So do tell me, why is it that you fear death?_

Erika cried out in surprise as a Dopant suddenly leapt up and grabbed onto her foot. With the added weight, she was brought down to the ground skidding. She slashed down and knocked the Dopant away as she scrambled back up to her feet. Once she was up, she was thrust into another close quarters battle. _I don't wanna die yet!_ Erika answered her, knocking several Dopants away before taking to the sky once again.

 _But why not?_ Valkyrie asked, _If you die in battle, that is a sure passage into the Halls of Valhalla._ Erika growled as she slashed several mid-air Dopants out of her way.

 _Because there are still things I want to do in this life!_ she replied, _I want to see myself become successful! I want to see my friends live, happy,_ normal _lives! And I want to see a world where no one lives under the oppression of fear!_

 _You've given me goals,_ said Valkyrie, _but not reasons. What's more, I feel the fear in your heart. Why? What is it that you have to fear?_ Erika remained silent, unsure of how to answer the question. She cried out again as several Dopants jumped onto her back and brought her crashing down. After struggling back to her feet, she was thrust back into square one. _Those who die in battle fleeing from their enemies aren't allowed passage into the Halls. Tell me, do you wish to fight?_

"I do!" Erika grunted aloud as she blocked an incoming strike.

 _And you wish to see all of your goals come into fruition, yes?_ Valkyrie asked again.

"Yes!" Erika growled back, groaning as she was suddenly pinned up against a wall.

 _Then you should stop fearing death and FIGHT!_ Valkyrie shouted, _Prove to the Gods that you are courageous! Show them how a great warrior fights a glorious battle!_

Erika struggled against the strength of the Dopants. Though she wasn't entirely sure of what Valkyrie was trying to do, she knew that what she was saying wasn't wrong. She wanted to see all of her goals accomplished, and to do that, she would have to fight, as Valkyrie said. With a battle roar, she thrust her wings out and knocked the Dopants away, spreading them widely as she took on a firm stance.

"Fine then! I'll fight!" Erika shouted, "And I'll fight as a Kamen Rider! As Kamen Rider VALKYRIE!" Though there was no way to tell, Erika somehow felt Valkyrie smile.

 _Watch out behind you!_ she suddenly shouted. Erika whirled around in time to see a Dopant jumping at her. She reacted quickly and slashed him out of the air before he could reach her. _Two to your right!_ Erika turned again and saw two more Dopants coming in. With swift swings, she knocked the incoming Dopants away from her. _Behind you!_ Erika turned around, however she was unable to prevent herself from being struck this time. She staggered back several steps before striking the Dopant back with an upwards slash. The Dopant stumbled back and crashed into several of his allies. Despite the situation, Erika found herself smiling beneath her mask. _Do not celebrate just yet,_ came Valkyrie's voice. Erika turned around and saw what she meant; a large quantity of the Dopants she had left behind were now catching up to her. Tensing up, she gripped her blade tightly and took on a stiff stance. _No more fear,_ scolded Valkyrie, _There is no time for that. Just move forward!_ With a bit of hesitancy, Erika nodded and reached down for the sundial on her belt. She flicked it with one quick motion.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a loud cry, Erika swung her blade upwards and hurled a wave of energy at the incoming crowd. The wave swept through it and obliterated several of the Dopants. Erika then let out a battle cry and rushed forward, spreading her wings as she ran. Soon enough, she closed the gap between herself and the oncoming crowd. She rammed through the crowd with viscous aggression, doing notably well despite being so outnumbered. And this fact was getting to the Dopants, as knowledge of this made them sloppier and reckless.

And Valkyrie noticed.

 _They are growing fearful!_ she told Erika, _Keep going! Show them your warrior spirit!_ Erika roared out again and flicked the dial on her belt.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

She hurled another energy wave out and eliminated a huge portion of the crowd. It didn't take long for the lost numbers to be recovered, however the same couldn't be said about the Dopants' morale.

"KEEP FIGHTING!" Crusade's voice came from above. Everyone looked up to see Crusade standing atop the roof of a nearby building. He jumped down from it and landed in a crouch a few meters in front of Erika. He slowly stood back up and drew out his saber handles from his back. He whipped both of them forward as he pulled their triggers, sparking them to life. Erika growled as a memory came flooding back to her. Crusade had been the one that had taken Arata down, both as Zero _and_ as that monstrosity of a Dopant he had become.

And now she was fighting him.

"Don't hesitate at all," he said to his crew, "Keep fighting and wear her down." Suddenly, doubles of Crusade hopped down from the rooftops around them all and surrounded Erika, each of them bearing both beam sabers. Erika quickly took on a stance and carefully scanned the area with a racing heart. Crusade chuffed, "Hmph. I was wondering where your supposedly frightening skills had gone. I'm not disappointed…" He scraped his sabers against each other as he and his doubles began to walk forward. "Now let's see how we fare against each other…" With a roar, the Crusades all picked up the pace. Erika's heart throbbed as they all came running at her at once. She lashed out at the closest one and knocked it away.

 _Three behind you!_ Erika whirled around and knocked all three of them away with a single swing. _One rear and one above!_ Erika turned and tried to judge which would close in sooner. However it took her too long and was struck by the one in the air as a result. As she staggered, she batted them both away with her blade. _All sides but the front!_ Erika snarled and swung her blade wildly, once again knocking the entire incoming crowd away with a single swing. _One from the re—_ Valkyrie was unable to finish, as the Crusade closed in on Erika before she could. Erika cried out and stumbled forward from the blow, creating a window of opportunity for the Crusades to exploit. They all struck at her wildly, leaving her no time to recover in between blows. Erika panicked and slashed at them all wildly as she tried to regain her footing. _Do not panic!_ Valkyrie shouted, _Remain calm and retaliate!_

 _I'm-gonna-die-I'm-gonna-die-I'm-gonna-die,_ Erika repeated to herself as she struggled and staggered around.

 _Do not fear death!_ Valkyrie shouted again, _A glorious mercy will befall you if you die in battle. However, you said yourself that you do not wish to die yet. If this is still true, then focus on fighting back!_

A sudden sense of clarity washed through Erika's head as she was told this. In that single instance, she was reminded of what she was fighting for in the first place. And with that in mind, she spread her wings and knocked all of her attackers away, allowing her to take to the air and pry the Memory out of her Driver. Then in one swift motion, she tossed it into the handle of her blade and twisted it into place.

^^^ ASCENDING SLASH! ^^^

With a guttural battle roar, she swung her blade and performed a mid-air spin. Her swing sent out a devastatingly powerful energy wave that aligned perfectly with the street below. The wave slammed down upon the crowd below and obliterated them all at once in a blinding flash of light. Once the light faded, three unconscious bodies fell onto the ground with their Memories snaking out of their bodies and bursting into pieces. The Dopants that had been quick enough to dive to the side all stared in dumbstruck awe, only to rapidly increase their depleted numbers at a hasty pace. Up in the air, Erika mentally celebrated the victory she had achieved. Not only had she severely reduced their numbers, but she had also done it without endangering the lives of those she had attacked.

The real Crusade groaned as he picked himself off of the ground, having dove into a nearby alleyway to avoid the devastating attack. His heart skipped a beat as he looked on at the damage Erika had dealt upon his crew. _What…exactly are we dealing with here?_ he thought with dread. Once he was back up, the Dopants had completed their duplications, filling up the area with as many Dopants as they could muster. Crusade snarled and shook his head as he ran back out into the streets and shouted, "Everyone retreat!" His crew looked back at him in shock, but he continued on regardless. "Leave the Valkyrie to me!"

"But sir, what about—"

"That was a DIRECT ORDER!" Crusade snapped, leaving no room for discussion, "Take our wounded and GET OUT OF HERE!" With unmistakable reluctance, the Dopants followed his orders and filed out, taking the unconscious furs with them. As they left, Crusade looked up at Erika as she slowly descended from the sky and landed before him.

 _He's…sending away his army,_ Erika thought, _is it because he's just that confident in himself, or is it because he's concerned about them?_ Erika wasn't left with any more time to ponder this question, as Crusade rushed at her with a total of 11 doubles backing him up.

 _Two on your left!_ Valkyrie called. Erika reacted appropriately and did her best to repel the two attackers. _Three on the right!_ Again, Erika reacted accordingly and countered to the best of her ability. She continued to fight in this manner, with Valkyrie continuing to call out where attacks were coming from. And though she received a hefty amount of blows, Erika fought adequately well even with the number disadvantage. As the fight went on, she took down double after double. But each time she took one down, another came running out to join the fight. However, with each coming double, Erika began to notice a pattern. Whenever a new one would join the fray, they would always come running out from the same direction. With this in mind, Erika became more aggressive with her attacks and began to fight her way towards where the doubles appeared to be coming from.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Erika hurled an energy wave and took out a good chunk of the doubles, granting her the opening she needed to rush into the alleyway she had set her sights on. As soon as she made it in, her eyes fell upon Crusade. The _real_ Crusade. Doubles suddenly came flooding out of him and attacked her, but Erika fought her way through them and closed in on the real Crusade. Now forced to fight, Crusade triggered his sabers and fought back, clashing their blades together and sending sparks flying everywhere. The two of them went back and forth, with both combatants managing to land numerous hits on the other. And though Erika's strikes hit the hardest, Crusade managed to land more hits overall with both his experience and aid from his doubles giving him the advantage.

But this didn't discourage Erika. Not by one bit. She had already come so far and wasn't ready to end things here. With another roar, she reached down and flicked the dial on her Driver.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

She swung upwards and sent out another energy wave, one that swept through Crusade and staggered him. Erika used that brief moment of opportunity to rush him with everything that she had. Sparks flew off of Crusade's body as Erika's blade struck him again and again. He struggled to fight back, but her attacks were simply too much for him. His doubles rushed in to help, but with Valkyrie at Erika's aid, they were kept at bay.

A well-timed strike suddenly knocked Crusade onto his back. Realizing the opportunity she was given, Erika tore the Memory out of her Driver and plunged it into her blade, twisting it in and locking it in place.

^^^ ASCENDING SLASH! ^^^

With an echoing battle roar, Erika reeled back and swung upwards, hurling a devastating energy way down the alleyway. Crusade cried out as he was swept up by it. It tore down the alleyway before emerging from the buildings and hurling Crusade onto a wall. The impact caused his armor to shatter away, leaving him in nothing but his regular clothes as he fell back down to the pavement. He growled and cushioned his shoulder with a paw as he struggled back up. Then, coming out from the buildings, several Dopants came running to his side to help him up. "Retreat," he coughed, gritting his teeth and glaring Erika down as she stood before him. The Dopants didn't waste time in following his orders and hurried him away, disappearing amongst the buildings they had come from.

"Get BACK here!" Erika snarled as she ran to pursue them. However, as she took her first step, her armor shattered away as well and blew away in a gust of wind. Erika stumbled momentarily before regaining her balance. She clicked her tongue in frustration; she couldn't fight them like this… She froze as she took notice of something. Squinting her eyes, she lowered her phone slightly and began to approach a small device on the ground. As she grew closer, she began to recognize what it was. With a gasp, she rushed over to the device and snatched it up from the ground. She brought it up to her face, confirming it to be Arata's Freeze Memory. _Crusade must have dropped it after that last attack…_ she thought, clutching the Memory tightly, _That's right…they're still holding him hostage…_ With a growl, she took her gaze off of the device and stormed off.

* * *

Not too long after, Erika and Tech were walking at a hurried pace down the street, with Erika clutching the Freeze Memory tightly in her paw. Tech followed after her still wearing her armor. "Erika," she called, "I understand how much you want to save Arata, but we _really should_ go back and plan for now."

" _Now_?" she asked the vixen without as much as a backwards glance, "Don't you want to save the team as well? Besides, there's strength in numbers."

"I do, don't get me wrong," Tech replied, snapping her gaze from side to side to scan the area, "but going out now to try and save them would be reckless. Sure, you're here now, and you're most certainly our best chance at winning this, but your Memory's recharging. Attacking the Dopants now would be _dangerous_."

"Crusade was hurt to the point that he had to retreat!" Erika snapped, still refusing to look anywhere but forward, "If we wait too long, him and all of his other allies will be back on their feet before we can attack. It's _now_ or _never_ , Tech."

"Okay, I get your mentality," Tech began, "It's a good plan. But just let _me_ rescue them on my own. You stay hidden and out of danger."

Erika stubbornly shook her head. "There's no way that you'd be able to handle them all alone. Besides, _I_ want to be the one to save Arata this time…"

"…This time?" Tech muttered under her breath. Whether or not Erika had heard her, she couldn't tell, for she kept walking down the road with determination in her eyes. Tech let out a sigh. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"I saw them running back towards that warehouse they were holding everyone in," Erika replied, "It's a good place to start at least."

Tech shook her head. "Just get behind me as soon as any conflict starts, alright?" Erika nodded absentmindedly in response. Within a matter of minutes, the two of them came across the alleged warehouse. Tech hastily rushed the two of them to the side as she noticed a pair of Dopants standing guard. Now crouched down on the ground, Tech looked around and mapped out the area in her head. After devising several different paths, she motioned with her paw for Erika to follow her. They snuck around quietly, hiding behind every box and barrel they could find. Thankfully they managed to find a way in from the side; a crumbled opening in the wall left behind by Arata's rampage. Tech crawled through before carefully scanning the area. Though she had never seen it personally, she could tell that the place was far emptier than before. Empty cages were all around, broken up by only a few filled cages. Looking around further, she also noticed how little many Dopants were standing guard. Tech motioned for Erika to follow again before the two of them silently slipped by and hurried into a hallway leading to a connected building.

* * *

Arata stared blankly at his lap as he sat on the ground, still unable to move due to his restraints. No thoughts ran through his head; he had exhausted his mind after pondering Crusade's words. Suddenly, his ears perked as they caught on to the sounds of the door opening. Footsteps filled the air as he looked up, expecting to see Crusade marching in with a triumphant look across his face. But his eyes lit up as he saw who it actually was.

"Arata! !" Erika exclaimed as she rushed over to him. A wave of relief and joy washed over Arata as the snow leopard embraced him tightly, wrapping her arms around him and stuffing her muzzle into his neck. "Thank god, we finally found you!" As she cried into him, Tech stood by the door and remained on the lookout. Erika suddenly broke away and thoroughly inspected him, asking, "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"I…I'm fine," Arata answered, having difficulty finding his voice. He looked around as Erika got work on undoing his bonds. "W-where is everyone else? Are they alright?"

"Don't worry about them right now," said Tech, catching Arata off guard as he heard her voice come out from beneath her armored body, "For now, we need to get out of here before anyone notices."

Erika made quick work of Arata's bonds. Soon enough, the trio was carefully rushing down the hallway. They slowed their pace as they neared the exit. With Tech once again taking the lead, they all crouched and crawled their way around the warehouse. Tech halted their progress to allow a Dopant walk past them before hurrying the two felines along. However, as they hurried towards the exit, Arata tripped over something in his haste and hit the ground with a loud thud. The thud echoed through the warehouse, and all of the Dopants around to hear it whirled around to face them.

"RUN!" Tech shouted as the Dopants scrambled towards them. Erika kicked open the door to the warehouse and Arata tackled down the Dopant standing guard. They continued to run with Tech tailing the two of them as she shot at the pursuing Dopants to hold them at bay. Though try as she might, the Dopants just kept coming, and the trio was rallied into a more open area of the city. With nowhere left to run, the three of them were forced into a fight, with all of the Dopants rushing in to try and subdue them. As Tech continued to fire at the army, Erika managed to disarm one of the Dopants of their swords and used it to knock several of them back. As one fell, she grabbed its sword and shouted to Arata before tossing it to him. Arata managed to catch it and slash at the attacking Dopants. Though they all fought valiantly, all they were managing to do was keep the Dopants at bay. But as the fight went on, it was getting more and more difficult to stay together as a group. Eventually, everyone was separated from one another and was forced to fight all on their own. The fight continued to rage on, with the Dopants growing more and more aggressive with their assault. But when the sounds of the Dopant alarm began to fill the air, everything came to a sudden halt. Everyone looked around, confused as to how and why such an alarm would go off. It wasn't until a familiar voice came through the city's PA system was that made clear.

"Hello everyone," came Crusade's voice, "if I could just direct everyone's attention to the broadcasting system. I have re-enabled it, therefore it should be accessible to everyone once again." Arata fought the urge to check for himself, as he felt that taking his eyes off of the battle field would be an unwise decision. "I _highly_ encourage everyone that can to do so. _Trust me_. This isn't something you're going to wanna miss…" Though the trio did not take him up on his advice, the rest of the city went through and checked their devices, confirming that Crusade did in fact re-enable the broadcasting system. As their screens turned on, they saw the battlefield where Erika, Tech and Arata were standing, surrounded by the army of Dopants. "For those of you who were smart enough to check, what you're looking at is the last shred of rebellion your Memoryless city has to offer; the last standing member of Amnesia, along with two unarmed hard-heads." The Dopants surrounding the trio quickly caught on to what Crusade was doing and began brandishing their blades in an act of intimidation. The trio quickly caught on as well, with all of them realizing that their actions were now being broadcasted live to the city, and possibly the world. "You should all take a _good_ look at this," Crusade went on, "because this is gonna be the _last_ glance of an uprising that comes from you people."

"Of course, we'd like to offer the easy way out," said Crusade in a mocking tone, "so to the three of you who are still standing in defiance of us, we're offering you this one chance to surrender. And keep in mind, this is your LAST chance at mercy…" The Dopants around them all began to slowly approach them. "Your call…"

Erika, Arata and Tech looked to one another. It was already clear how much of a disadvantage they were at. Erika and Arata looked to Tech, and she slowly nodded to the two of them. Slowly lowering her paw, she reached for her Driver and pried it off of her, disengaging her transformation as she held the device up along with her other paw. The two felines gasped in shock over her surrender. With the shred of defiance still in them, it took a moment before they too raised their paws up in the air.

"Heh, good choice," said Crusade as the Dopants began to close in. Arata looked to Tech again, still shocked that she was willing to give in so easily. However, the vixen looked back at him and locked their gazes together. She held his gaze for a moment and nodded to him. It was at that point did Arata's eyes widen in realization. He looked to Erika to see that she too had realized what was going on.

After all, people didn't smile in the face of defeat.

The Dopants closed in and reached out to take the felines in. However, with loud roars, the two of them kicked them all back and fended them off.

"HEADS UP!" Tech shouted before hurling her Driver at Arata. As soon as it was in the air, the Dopants made a mad scramble to attack. Arata exclaimed before leaping in the air and narrowly catching the Driver. Once he landed, he slapped the device onto his waist, allowing the silver belt to snake out from it and latch the Driver onto himself. As he continued to fight the Dopants off, Tech shouted out as she was finally taken away herself. The scene grew even more chaotic as more Dopants leapt from the rooftops to join in.

"ARATA!" Erika shouted before she tossed Arata's Memory with her left paw. However, a Dopant managed to swipe it out of the air before Arata could manage to catch it with his right paw. Arata snarled and tried to fight his way through the crowd, dodging and blocking swing after deadly swing. Before he could reach the Dopant holding his Memory, the Dopant hurled the device towards another one in the crowd. But Erika acted quickly and hurled the sword she had taken at the flying Memory, knocking it out of the air and sending it back at Arata. The panther caught the device and immediately slammed it into the slot of his Driver. Meanwhile, Erika pried her Memory out of her Driver and re-plugged it in, battering her way through the crowd to stand side by side with Arata. Then, with their paws swiftly enacting upon their devices, the two of them shouted out in one unified cry,

"HENSHIN!"

A wild blizzard erupted outwards and swallowed up the entire block. The strength of the winds knocked several Dopants right off of their feet and prevented them from getting back up. The ones that still stood were blinded as a bright light flared to life in the middle of the freak snowstorm.

FREEZE!

ASCEND!

Then, with a loud and thunderous clap, the blizzard was cast away from the block. With it gone, the snow was able to fall away to reveal the two Riders standing side by side. As Arata's cloak fluttered in the wind, Erika spread her wings out behind her and illuminated the area with a brilliant light. As the fallen Dopants pulled themselves back up to their feet, they stared with awe at the spectacle. Before them stood the last remaining guardians of the city, the last line of defense against them.

The Kamen Riders.

With Erika summoning her sword and Arata drawing his out from his side, the two of them plunged into battle as one. The Dopants all attacked at once to meet their challenge, allowing the fierce battle to go underway. And though their numbers were great, the two of them fought back valiantly. With the two of them backing each other up, Erika and Arata were almost untouchable to the Dopants. Even as they continued to regenerate their numbers with each fallen double, the two Riders fought on with vigor. All the while, people all around were peeking their heads out from their hiding spots to catch a glimpse of the raging battle.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Erika took her paw off of her dial to grip her blade in both, allowing her to swing hard and hurl a wave of energy at a crowd of Dopants, taking them out in one fell swoop.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Arata gripped his blade tightly as he made a wide swing with it, blasting the Dopants in front of them with a wave of ice and freezing them all in place. He jumped back to allow Erika to come in and take them all down one by one.

 _Erika!_ came Valkyrie's voice, _Look in the distance! There are several adversaries that are remaining on the sidelines and merely observing the battle! Those must be the original ones!_ Erika looked and saw that she was right. She quickly reached down and flicked the dial on her belt once more.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a grunt, she swung upwards and hurled another wave down the street, taking down the Dopants standing in the way. However, this gave Erika's targets enough time to jump to safety and avoid the attack. Erika growled and sent more waves out, intent on further reducing the Dopants' numbers. Her efforts eventually proved successful, as one of the targeted Dopants was taken down and a whole section of Dopants vanished from the battlefield. Erika and Arata cried out in triumph and fought on, fueled on by their most recent victory. More and more this happened, and each time it did, the two of them grew more and more encouraged. The same held true for the onlookers, as with each fallen Dopant cluster, more and more people were peeking their heads out. However, as Arata braced himself to take on the next batch of Dopants, his heart leapt as he saw dark silhouettes leap off of the rooftops to join the fight. Arata froze in his tracks as a Crusade locked gazes with him.

Crusade suddenly rushed forward, joined by his doubles, and attacked the two Riders head on. Blades clashed and sparks flew as the fight raged on, with neither side letting up. As Crusade pressed on harder, the Riders' struggles grew more and more difficult. Regardless, they fought back with all of their might, with Erika continuing to reduce the Dopants' numbers with every fallen original. However, the two of them began to near the limits of their capabilities, and soon Crusade gained the upper hand. Him and his doubles managed to land strike after strike on each of the Riders. And with firm and well placed swings, both of them were struck down to their knees. Collapsing over their own weight, the two Riders fell face first onto the pavement, panting heavily from exhaustion. Once they fell, Crusade and his Dopants let out rallying cries of victory. The spectators all looked on in horror at the sight of their fallen heroes. The two Riders struggled to get back up to their feet, but unfortunately their bodies wouldn't allow it. Huffing in satisfaction, Crusade tossed his paws up in the air and turned to the nearest camera.

"SO!" he shouted, "Do you all see NOW?! Your precious 'Riders' have fallen! Even with the both of them working together, they were POWERLESS against us! WE were the ones with the stronger Memories! Because of that, we CANNOT be stopped!"

A heavy silence passed over the city. The gravity of Crusade's words was finally beginning to settle in on the spectators. He was right; there was no one left to protect them. The last glimpse of hope had been held by the Riders, and even _they_ had fallen to the hands of Crusade and his army of Dopants. That was it. It was over. The city was theirs. They had won…

"NO!" a young voice suddenly cried out, echoing over the battlefield. Crusade and his Dopants looked around in confusion. "The Kamen Riders can still WIN!" Arata perked his head abruptly; he recognized this voice. It belonged to the boy that he had rescued during one of his first days as Zero. "COME ON, ZERO!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs, "GET UP! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Crusade growled and began to approach the building that he could hear the boy's voice from. However, he stopped in his tracks as another voice joined the boy in his outcries. "YEAH! GET BACK UP!" the voice yelled out, "YOU GUYS 'VE GOT EM ON THE ROPES!" Soon, more voices joined in, creating a crescendo of cheers and shouts of encouragement. Crusade and his Dopants looked around as people began to emerge fully from their hiding spots, standing tall and proud as they shouted their support to their fallen Riders. Crusade and his crew stared in astonishment as all of the fear and doubt that had covered the city like a blanket was cast away in one fell swoop. "RIDERS! RIDERS! RIDERS! RIDERS!" the crowd began to chant, pumping their fists in the air. As they chanted, the two fallen felines craned their necks up in awe at the spectacle.

Arata plunged his sword into the ground and let out a low growl, pulling himself up whilst using his sword as leverage. Erika did the same, getting up alongside him with renewed energy. As they stood back up, the crowd's chants erupted into a roaring hurrah. Crusade whirled back around and watched in fury as the two Riders climbed back up to their feet, standing defiantly before him and his army. They soon straightened out and stood up triumphantly, earning another hurrah from the crowd. With a snarl, Arata thrust his blade forward. "CRUSADE!" he shouted, "WE'RE TAKING THIS CITY BACK NOW!" Then, with another roar, both him and Erika charged forward, "COUNT ON IT!" And just like that, the fight began anew. However, as Crusade fought the two of them, he noticed something different about them. No, it wasn't just them, it was the air, the atmosphere, everything. With all of the fear having vanished, the city itself felt more alive. The crowd's rallying cheers of support fueled the two Riders' drives, and it showed in their attacks. Every strike they threw felt stronger, and every battle cry they let out felt louder and more confident. They had the whole city to back them up, and they were using that to the fullest degree.

DESCEND!

Erika took her paw away from her belt as her under suit went from bright yellow to deep purple. As the wings adorning the sides of her helmet fell to form crescent-shaped earrings, her shoulder-guards lengthened, and a ghostly-white cape fluttered out behind her. In this new form, Erika batted away the Dopants attacking her and struck away the Crusades blocking her way. "Arata, look to the buildings ahead of us!" she shouted out, "The real Crusade is hiding there!" Crusade's heart leapt as he overheard her shout. Making haste, he disappeared between the buildings and ran off. Arata caught him in his sights just before he disappeared and let out a growl as he struggled through the crowd in pursuit. Erika struggled to follow, but she was dealing with far too many doubles to be able to catch up. _Dammit, Arata,_ she cursed, _Be safe! I'll catch up soon!_

Arata quickly caught up with the true Crusade and chased him into an open area. As soon as they reached it, Crusade whirled around and struck, catching the Rider by surprise. With snarls and growls escaping the throats of each combatant, the two of them fought viciously. Each landed hit was countered by another. Their blades clashed and sparked against each other with each swing.

"Tell me, kid!" shouted Crusade, "Are you really okay with letting the people of this city continue to cower in FEAR over every single Dopant attack that strikes?! REAL attacks who WON'T be merciful?!" Crusade landed a solid hit on Arata that made him stumble back. "WHY?! Why let them cower when they can DO something about it and fight BACK?!" Crusade grunted as Arata caught him off guard and landed a blow of his own, regaining his edge and gaining the upper hand.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know the answer!" he snarled, "And I'm not going to pretend that your reasoning doesn't have some logic to it!" Crusade tried to retaliate, but Arata's furious swings prevented him from being able to do so. "So if you guys are gonna be doing what you feel is right, then I'M going to do the same!" Arata swung hard again and knocked Crusade back. "And right now, protecting the city from danger is what feels right to me!" This time, Crusade caught Arata off guard and landed a hit, making Arata stagger long enough for Crusade to gain the upper hand.

"I'm trying to HELP them!" he shouted. Arata counter-swung and locked the two of them in a hold.

"LET THEM HAVE A CHOICE!" he screamed at him, "LET them come to their OWN conclusions instead of FORCING the situation onto them! EDUCATE them! Don't strike FEAR in them!" Crusade growled and forced himself forward, making Arata skid back against the gravel.

"We are doing you a SERVICE!" he growled, "NO ONE ELSE would have been able to do something of this scale and even BOTHER to keep themselves in check! If it hadn't been for us, SOMEONE ELSE would have jumped in and done this, and I assure you that they WOULD kill indiscriminately!"

Arata growled and grounded himself, stopping Crusade's advance. "That doesn't make it right to be striking FEAR into the hearts of the people!"

"SOMEONE HAS TO!" Crusade shouted before pushing Arata away, breaking away from the hold. They ran at each other again and clashed once more.

"You said that you knew the consequences you'd face by doing this!" Arata shouted back, "Well we're going to be the ones to make you FACE those consequences!"

"Why do _you_ have the right to do so, HUH?!" Crusade snarled harshly. "Why do YOU have the right to decide what your people do and don't deserve?! Why do YOUR ideals and beliefs outweigh MINE?!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Crusade grunted as he was struck with a wave of ice. He staggered back as he recovered. "Because the CITY gave me that right!" Arata roared, reeling his blade back for another swing.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Another wave struck Crusade, making him stagger back several more steps. "Because I decided to PROTECT the city!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Crusade cried out as an even stronger wave struck him. "Because the CITY chose me as its hero!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

An even STRONGER wave struck Crusade, nearly knocking him off of his feet. "Because I'm a KAMEN RIDER!" Arata roared as he reeled back for an even harder swing.

 **»** **_FREEZE_** ** _: MIRACLE DRIVE!_** **«**

Arata's entire body suddenly exploded into a wild, raging blizzard, one that was stronger than any he had ever produced before. The blizzard swept Crusade back, nearly lifting him off of his feet. He shielded himself with his arms as the blizzard raged on around him. The blizzard was so strong and thick that he could see nothing in front of him. Crusade growled as he tried to fight against it, but it was simply too strong for him _to_ fight against. But just as he thought that it would never end, an ear-splitting, THUNDEROUS clap echoed through the air. A wild gust of wind swept past Crusade and the snow was blown away, giving him back his vision. And as he lowered his arms, he drew in a sudden gasp.

Arata still stood before him, but his suit had undergone a change. It appeared sharper than before, and was now thicker and heavier. His shoulder guards had doubled up on each other, and hook-like blades lined his gauntlets. Stabbed into the ground before him was a long-sword that appeared to be made of pure ice. Arata raised his paws to his face as he gave himself a look-over. "Well how about that?" he began, reaching out and grabbing onto the handle of the ice-blade, "A new form _just_ for me." He drew the blade out of the ground and slashed it to his side, twirling it around before taking on a battle stance. He let out a battle roar as he charged forward and attacked. Crusade blocked a strike with one of his sabers, but he stumbled back as their blades collided. He snarled in frustration; Arata was _way_ stronger than he had been mere moments ago. This fact was driven in again and again as Arata continued to press on. Each blow made Crusade stumble back, making him struggle just to remain balanced. Crusade's head jerked up suddenly as he was blown back. As he landed back on his feet, a pair of doubles leapt out of his body to attack Arata.

 _Only now?!_ he questioned as he blocked a blow from one of them, _He could've sent them after me the second our fight_ started _! Unless…_ Arata slashed out and landed a critical blow on one of the doubles, causing it to vanish from sight. As it did, another one leapt out of the real Crusade and ran after him. _That's it! There's a limit as to how many he can make! His other doubles must still be out there fighting!_ Arata jerked as he saw another pair leap out of Crusade to join the fight. _Damn, so if more get taken down by Erika, then that means he can summon more here!_ Arata grunted as he was struck in the back. He whirled around and slashed at the doubles at his rear, fending them off. _Can't call Erika now! Just have to hope that she gets here in time!_

* * *

Erika shouted out as she struck a Crusade double down from above, destroying it and allowing her to shift focus. _Erika!_ came Valkyrie's voice, _Somethings off!_

 _What is it?!_ Erika asked, gritting her teeth as she took down a Dopant.

 _The doubles seem to have gotten sloppier all of a sudden!_

Erika grunted as she blocked a swing at her head. _Is that a_ bad _thing?!_

 _It wouldn't be,_ Valkyrie answered, _if I didn't feel like they were doing it on purpose…_

Erika let out a gasp. _Dammit! Crusade's got a limit! I've just been sending doubles to Arata!_ She reached down at her belt and flicked the dial.

DESCENDING DRIVE!

She let out a battle roar as she swung her blade, hurling an energy wave through the crowd blocking her way. As they vanished, Erika rushed towards where Arata had run off to.

* * *

Arata growled as he was struck again. He struggled to maintain his balance as he fought off the attacking doubles. More had joined the fight, making it more difficult to handle them all. He cried out in pain as one of them struck the back of his knee, forcing his leg to give out. He snarled as he raised his arms up over his head, blocking as many strikes as he could. He let out a roar as he stood back up and swung hard, causing a wave of ice to slam into the doubles in his way. As soon as the wave hit them, they were trapped in blocks of ice. Arata twirled his blade around before pulling the trigger at the hilt.

 **»** **_FREEZE_** ** _: MIRACLE CHARGE!_** **«**

With a battle cry, he rushed forward and slashed at the frozen doubles, destroying them and reducing them to nothing but shards of ice. He ran through the frozen crowd before reaching the true Crusade. They swung at each other and caught each other in a hold. Crusade growled as he sent more doubles out at Arata. The Rider, grunted as one of them struck him back, staggering him away from the true Crusade.

DESCENDING DRIVE!

A powerful wave swept through the battle ground, destroying a row of doubles. As the wave passed, Erika leapt in and landed next to Arata and gripped her blade tightly. "Sorry I'm late," she said, blocking a swing from an incoming double, "ran into some traffic!" Just as she said that, Crusade's Dopants came flooding into the area. "And there it is!" The fight was escalating, with Arata and Erika fending the crowd off with their respective attacks sweeping through the area. As Arata froze attackers in place, Erika shattered them to pieces.

"Leave 'em all frozen now!" Arata shouted over the chaos, "We're ending this in one fell swoop!"

"Gotcha!" Erika shouted back, knocking away one of the Dopants before kicking it back. She stayed at Arata's rear as he swung his blade again and again, hurling ice waves through the crowd and freezing each double on contact. Each of them struggled to free themselves, but their icy prison kept them all in check.

 _Erika! The far left!_ Valkyrie shouted. Erika whirled around in time to see the true Crusade about to make a run for it.

"Not on my watch!" Erika shouted as she pried her Memory out of her belt and plunged it into her blade.

vVv DESCENDING SLASH! vVv

Crusade froze in place as his gaze was fixated onto Erika's glowing eyes. A purple aura surged through her blade as she slowly raised it over her head. "Arata! Now!"

"RIGHT!" Arata shouted back. With a roar, he swung his blade around before plunging it into the ground. The force of the plunge ejected his Memory from the handle and flung it into the air. In one smooth motion, Arata caught the Memory and tossed it into the slot at his side.

 **»** **_FREEZE_** ** _: MIRACLE STRIVE!_** **«**

Just as the doubles began to break free from the ice, Arata's body burst into a raging blizzard once more. The blizzard trapped the doubles in ice once more, freezing all but Erika as it raged on. The blizzard came to an abrupt stop as the snow rapidly condensed in the air, forming Arata's body. "Frozen…" Arata slammed his fist against the slot, triggering his Memory, "EXTREEEEEMEEE!" With an astral projection of himself forming beside him, he kicked his foot forward as he rocketed back down towards the ground. Both his and the specter's foot slammed into the ground, causing a massive quake to shake the ground. The quake obliterated the frozen doubles, clearing the entire area and leaving only Crusade as he stumbled around in a dazed state. Erika found her chance and let out a roar before swinging her blade, hurling a massive wave of energy that tore through the ground before slamming into Crusade. An explosion swept through the area as soon as the attack made contact, and once the dust settled, Crusade's unarmored and unconscious body fell to the ground, his Memory falling out of his Driver before hitting the ground and shattering to pieces.

Erika panted heavily and planted her blade into the ground to lean against it. She looked up to see Arata doing the same, having returned to his base form. The two of them stared at each other silently, simply to catch their breath. But as soon as they did, they thrust their blades towards the air and let out triumphant cries of victory. However, they cut their celebration short as the sounds of Crusade's groans filled the air. The two Riders lowered their blades and slowly approached their fallen foe. The coyote grimaced as he rolled himself onto his back and looked over to the two of them. "Congratulations," he huffed, "You've made sure that your people will _always_ live in fear of people like us…" He stopped as a coughing fit overcame him. He grit his teeth when it ceased, and he continued. "At this rate, they'll never fight for themselves. They'll _always_ depend on their "heroes" to defend them…"

Arata remained silent, letting his gaze fall to his feet. But as he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder, he raised it and saw Erika looking directly at him. They held each other's gazes for a moment. "You know what?" Erika began, "I think I'm okay with that idea." She then looked down to Crusade, who was looking at the two of them with confusion. "If the city needs its heroes, then I'm glad to be one of them."

"…She's right," Arata chimed in, nodding in agreement, "Besides, we were the ones who decided to fight. If we just stepped down and let everyone else fight, then who are we to call ourselves heroes?"

The coyote let out a chuff as his eyes began to drift close. "Then you'd better hope that you've got what it takes…" he muttered before falling into unconsciousness.

* * *

Arata and Erika sat together atop a rooftop as they watched Crusade and his crew get taken away. "Erika?" Arata called to her, "…Thank you for overcoming your fears and coming to help."

Erika waved a paw at him dismissively. "It's old news, Arata. Best to toss them aside. We should be _even_ now, anyways. And besides, didn't I tell you?" Arata tilted his head at her, and she looked back at him with a smile across her muzzle. "I promised I'd find a way to fight alongside you. I might've gotten a bit sidetracked on the way…but I got there." Arata stared at her in confusion before a memory came flooding back to his mind. He smiled as he remembered what she had told him on her hospital bed so long ago. Erika tapped a fist to his shoulder. "Now you don't have to be the one defending _me._ From now on, I've got _your_ back."

Arata let out a laugh. "Hey, it's not like I _need_ any defending." Erika chuffed and playfully shoved him, making him laugh more. "Okay, okay. Well, at the very least, we can have each other's backs." Erika smiled and nodded in satisfaction. "Sounds good to me." At that, the two felines looked over their city. This was the city that they now vowed to protect. This was the city that they would look after. Because they were its sworn heroes.

Because they were its Kamen Riders.


	2. Director's Cut

Kamen Rider Zero Arc 3 "Movie" Special

The Great _Crusade_

(Director's Cut)

Two furs sat alone in a large, open office. The walls were pure white, much like the fur of the vulpine seated behind the desk at the center of the room. The artic fox had on a suit that matched his snow white fur, causing him to give off a sort of glow as the sunlight reflected off of him from the large windows surrounding the outer edges of the office. Looking beyond these windows, large mountains and landscapes could be seen, with no indication of any other built structure in sight. The fox had on a slight smile as he tapped at his keyboard and clicked at his mouse. On his screen, various charts of Memories and Dopants were being scrolled through. Most he quickly passed by. But several, he would stop on.

Bullet. Water. Edge. Magma. Broadcast. Muscle. Ninja. Illusion.

None of these Memories or respective Dopants had anything inherently in common, but one thing remained constant on each and every one of those specific charts.

They were failures.

The fox sighed through his nose and clicked away from the window and moved on to another page, one with a picture of Jinsoku City at the front. "Ahhh, Jinsoku City," said the fox in a smooth, rich tone, "A pleasant little city in Japan. Calm, peaceful, and most importantly, _filled_ with people." He sat back in his recliner and swished his bushy tail behind him. "Established in the year of 785, it was one of the first that allowed for a large population of furs and scales alike to live in. It was there that the heart of innovation and ingenuity took place. I'd say that its very existence is a marvel in it of itself." The fox moved his bowser to another page, this one containing an arrangement of factoids and information. "Many important things happened here, things that had an effect on the _whole world_ , I'd say. The recreation of automobiles for one thing. The recreation of computers for another."

"And the infamous day known as Day Zero," finished the other occupant of the room, a coyote dressed in dark, strange, almost militaristic gear. He was sprawled across a long couch on the other side of the table, across from where the fox was sitting. His bare feet were propped up against the edge of the couch, with his boots set just next to his lazily laid back head on the floor. A grin, similar to the one the fox had, was spread across his muzzle as he looked back at him. The fox raised a brow at him coyly and glanced at him.

"Yes _indeed_ ," the fox replied, "But of course, _you_ would know _much_ about that day, Mr. Crusade." Crusade chuffed before sitting up, resting his shoeless feet across the table in front of him. "Do tell me, Mr. Crusade," the fox went on, "How _did_ that day go for you and your…crew?"

"Heh, what else is there to know?" Crusade replied with a snide tone, "We showed up, took the city under siege, and demonstrated what kind of power Gaia Memories have." He raised a brow at the fox and beckoned at him with a tilt of his head. "But then that Anti-Dopant team came in and took us down one by one. We were arrested and put on trial. We _surely_ would've been put to death, had it not been for the _generous_ donations from a certain discreet organization. And one that I believe you're most familiar with. After all, you _are_ their Headmaster." The Headmaster smiled back at him and nodded.

"Well," Headmaster began, "I couldn't just let a _pioneer_ such as yourself be put to such a waste. I had a feeling you were worth saving, rather than simply allowing you to be thrown out by society like some lowly criminal."

"Heh, a pioneer?" Crusade questioned with a slight chuckle.

"Oh yes," the fox nodded, reaching under his desk and pulling out a sleek Memory. He fiddled with it and examined it as he went on. "You were the one that decided to show the world that Gaia Memories are the weapons of the _future_. These beautiful little devices are capable of creating super powered individuals for little to no consequence."

Crusade laughed in amusement. "Well, I guess if you put it like _that_ , then I guess I _am_ a pioneer."

"You're welcome for the compliment by the way," Headmaster replied before looking back at his computer screen and clicking back to his records. As he did, the pleasant smile that had been spread across his muzzle slowly melted away. "Yet, despite this knowledge, the world _still_ hasn't seemed to have caught on to exactly what that entails. It's as though they must witness their full potential once again in order to fully understand…" The pleasant smile returned to him as he reached down underneath his desk again and pulled out a sleek suitcase. He carefully placed it on his desk and opened it up, smiling at the coyote and carefully spinning it around to present the contents inside to him. "So I ask you, Mr. Crusade, will you be the one to remind them?"

Crusade smirked and took his foot off of the desk, leaning over to pick one of 12 Memories inside. He held it in his fingers and ran his thumb over the printed 'C' at the front of it. He took his eyes off of the device to return his gaze to the fox, who smiled back at him as he awaited his answer. And with a toothy grin, he replied, "My crew and I have been eager for another crusade…"

* * *

Arata shuffled in his seat nervously as he looked across to the other occupants in the room, 1, 2, 6 and Tech. These were the only members of Amnesia that were healthy enough to be walking around, even if one of them had to do it with a limp. Today they had gathered in literally the one of the only usable rooms left in the Amnesia facility, as the rest of them were still either too terribly damaged, or still going through repairs.

"So you understand why you will have to be staying with us for a while, right Arata?" asked 2. The panther nodded quietly in response. With there only being three members left on the team that could still fight, the city was in a tight spot. They were down 9 members, and therefore the city had 9 less protectors. Because of that, Arata had become a full time member of Amnesia, at least for the time being. The same would've held true for Erika, but unfortunately…she wasn't in any shape to fight either. She was still grieving over what had happened with her and the "Valkyrie," and had locked herself away in her home.

Needless to say, she wasn't going to be helping them any time soon.

"Arata," came 2's firm voice, snapping him out of his thoughts, "pay attention. This is important."

"R…right… Sorry," Arata apologized as he sat up in his seat and raised his ears attentively.

"Go on, 1," the artic fox said, motioning to the komodo dragon across from her with her snout.

"So like I said," he began, "The new recovery pod that we've been expecting is going to be arriving today. It's going to be driven in by a cargo truck, and we're going to be escorting it to its destination." He then pointed to one section of the map laid out in the middle of the table. "It'll be driven in through this valley, so 2, you're going to be the first to meet up with it as soon as it hits this check point." The artic fox nodded her head in understanding. 1 then looked over to Arata. "Arata, you'll be over here on standby at the edge of the city and wait for her to arrive. You tell me the second you see them come into view. Got it?" Arata nodded, and 1 went on. "You're going to provide support to 2 once they arrive. Make sure you keep yourself on high alert, because we're expecting _something_ to be trying to stop us. The entire city will be going under a mandatory lockdown, so it'll be easier on us to pick out any suspicious activity. Meanwhile, 6 and I will be hidden amongst the buildings. We'll be trailing you two as you escort the pod through the city."

"You guys too?" said Arata with shock, "But I thought you two are still recovering."

"The recovery pod is our number 1 priority," 1 explained, "It's more important that we get it into our facility than worry about straining ourselves. Besides, once it's back, we'll be able to afford as many injuries as we want. You would know after all." Arata bit his lip and sunk back in his seat. Seeing that the panther was done, 1 moved on. "So is everyone clear on their roles?" Everyone nodded in response. "Any questions?"

Reluctantly, Arata raised his paw. "Well, why can't we just go to where the pod is and heal you guys up there _before_ the escort?"

"Trust me, we _wish_ we could," Tech chimed in, "but the pod is designed to lock up the second it leaves its conveyor belt in the factory. This way, no one working in the factory tries to use it or is in immediate risk of attack. It takes some time to unlock itself, and it'll take _additional_ time to start working properly with the recovery Memory." She paused to take a breath before continuing. "Normally, it'd require a password, along with a bunch of _other_ complicated stuff, but with how things are going for us right now, we're making an exception." Arata nodded thoughtfully as he took this all in.

"So then," said 1, "anyone else?" He looked across the room, looking for any raised hands. Once he saw that there were none, he continued. "Good. Suit up then, people. It's time to get to work."

* * *

2's eyes scanned the valley as she sat on her bike in her armor. If anything so much as twitched or shifted, her eyes were on it. This was an important mission, and she wasn't about to allow anything to catch her by surprise and make her mess it up. Every time her eyes finished checking her surroundings, they went back to the road.

Meanwhile, back in Jinsoku, Arata was also seated on his bike, already transformed. As 1 had explained, the city was under lockdown, leaving very little for him to look at. Which was fine with him, as his eyes were glued mainly to the road. Yet despite how long he had been staring down it, he had never really acknowledged it. His mind was elsewhere, occupied with thoughts of Erika. _She didn't even answer me when I called,_ he thought, _she must still be really distraught over what happened…_

"I have visual on the cargo," 2's voice suddenly came through their com link, startling the panther out of his thoughts, "I'm beginning the escort now. Over." This prompted 1 and 6, both of whom were also in armor, to get moving from beneath their cover amongst the buildings.

"Copy that, 2," replied 1, "Streets are still clear on my side. Over."

"This is 6. Streets are clear from my side too. Over."

"…Uh, th-things are clear here too," Arata stammered, looking around himself as he suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place, "…Over."

"Roger that. Over." 2 replied before going quiet once more. With things finally proceeding, Arata was forced to push his thoughts aside for the time being and focus on the task at hand. He looked up and around himself to confirm that things really _were_ clear on his side. He knew that 1 and 6 weren't too far off from him, but he was still another set of eyes they needed to use. A few minutes passed before Arata took notice of a silhouette in the distance. It took him a bit of time to realize that it was 2.

"Uh-I can see you now, 2," Arata reported awkwardly.

"I've got you in my sights too, Arata. Over," said 2, glancing back at the truck behind her briefly.

"Good," said 1, "Arata, take up the rear. Over."

"Got it. Over." At that, Arata revved his bike and followed behind the large truck.

"Eyes up, Arata," 1's voice came, "We still need you on the lookout. Over."

"R-right. Sorry… Over," Arata mumbled before taking his eyes off of the rear of the vehicle. He slowed slightly to add some space between him and the truck before he let his eyes drift away from it. With the speed they were going at, it felt to him like things were going at a snail's pace. And though their speed wasn't exactly the fastest, it was allowing for 1 and 6 to keep up with them. They needed as many eyes around them as possible, so a slower pace was necessary for this particular mission. Unfortunately for them, all of their eyes still didn't allow them to see Crusade watching from afar with a pair of binoculars held up over his eyes.

"Do you have the target in sight?" he heard the headmaster ask through his Bluetooth. He smirked slightly and lowered his binoculars.

"Yes sir," he replied, "I've got a visual on them."

"Good," said the Headmaster, "then you may begin the siege."

"Roger that," Crusade replied with a wide grin.

"This is 1," came the commander's voice, "Things are still clear. Over."

"6 here. Things are clear he—" A grunt was heard, followed by rustling before she suddenly went silent. And as the silence settled in, Arata felt himself tense up with nervousness.

"6?" said 1, this time in a whisper, "Report in 6. Over." No reply came. At this point, Arata's heart began to race and 2 tightened her grip on her bike handles. "Stay wary," he went on, "we're under attack." Arata and 2 waited for him to sign out, but he never did.

"…1?" called 2. Still no response. "Arata, stay calm, but stay on high alert. Over."

"R-right," he replied, swinging his gaze back and forth, "Over." He shot his gaze over to the nearby buildings, trying to see if he could make out any movement. _What's going on?_ he questioned. Before the thought could develop any further, several shouts and cries were heard from up above. Arata looked up in time to see several dark figures leap from the rooftops and land on top of the cargo truck with loud thuds which caused the truck itself to swerve. Arata exclaimed in shock as the figures rose, allowing him to get a good look at them. They were lightly armored, only covering their head, chest and lower legs. Covering the rest of their dark-shaded bodies was what appeared to be chainmail, and in their hands, they held a sword and shield. They reminded him of the crusaders of the old times that he had vaguely remembered studying about in school.

"What are you doing?!" barked 2, "They're Dopants! Retaliate!"

"R-right!" Arata shouted before drawing out the gun holstered at his side. He thrust it forward and let loose several shots. However, most of his shots were merely blocked by one of the Dopants' shields. Soon afterwards, several of them leapt off of the truck and landed on Arata's bike, disorienting him and catching him off guard. He cried out as he was kicked off of it and rolled onto the ground. As he pushed himself up, he saw that the same fate had fallen upon 2, with both of their bikes swerving and crashing in the distance. 2 growled and fired her gun at the Dopants still on the truck.

"Arata stop them!" she shouted desperately. Arata didn't waste time in replying this time. Instead, he pried his Memory out of his Driver and slammed it into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

His body immediately burst into a blizzard that swept down the street and caught up to the truck. The blizzard focused around it and froze the Dopants still on it in place. However, as a result, the truck was trapped as well, and was brought to a halt. The blizzard condensed and re-formed Arata's body over the Dopants. He kicked his foot forward and smashed the Dopants into ice shards, leaving neon clouds of smoke behind. He grunted as he landed on his feet and stood back up. But as he did, he noticed something, or rather, the _lack_ of something.

"Th-there aren't any bodies left behind!" he exclaimed. One of the many Dopants suddenly caught him off guard by jumping up onto the truck with him and striking him in the back. As he stumbled and fell off of the truck, several doubles melted out of the Dopant's body and jumped after him. He grunted as he hit the ground hard and quickly scrambled backwards. "2! They can make copies of themselves!"

"Then these all must be doubles that we're fighting!" she shouted back, "Find some way to find the original one!"

Arata growled in frustration as he tried to parry and evade as many hits as he could. "I-I lost sight of the original one! I don't even know how I'd tell the difference!" He suddenly exclaimed as his gun was knocked out of his hand by one of the Dopants. He tried to go after it, however one of the Dopants grabbed him and pulled him back into the fight. Arata growled again as he drew his sword out from his belt, now forced to take on this army in close quarters. 2 did her best in providing support from afar, but the Dopants that she was dealing with were keeping her from doing so. To make matters worse, more and more Dopants were flooding into the area and joining the fight, making it even harder to keep up with their numbers.

"UrrRRGH FORGET THIS!" Arata roared before removing and re-slotting his Memory into his side slot. At the same time, 2 pulled _her_ Memory out of her Driver and stuffed it into her gun.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Whilst Arata's body burst into a raging blizzard, 2's gun rapidly charged up as she fought the Dopants off. After the blizzard had caught a majority of the Dopant crowd in ice, it condensed back into Arata's body and allowed him to come soaring down from the sky. As he slammed his foot down on one of the frozen Dopants, 2 pulled her trigger and blasted a chunk of the crowd apart. All of the attacked Dopants burst into neon clouds, however none of them left behind an unconscious body. Neither 2 nor Arata had a chance to celebrate their success or grieve over their miss of the original, as the destroyed Dopants were quickly replaced by more.

"Dammit, there's too many!" snarled 2 as they continued the fight. Her and Arata jerked as they heard the sounds of a screaming man. They both shot their gazes over to the truck and saw several Dopants prying the driver out and tossing him to the side of the road. Meanwhile, the other Dopants were making quick work of the ice that had trapped the truck in the first place. "Shit! Arata stop them!" She yelped in surprise as several of the Dopants suddenly overtook her. It wasn't long before she was subdued and her armor was destroyed.

"2!" Arata screamed in horror, hastening in his efforts to get to her as they began to grab at her.

"Forget me!" she barked at him, "Just stop that truck!" Even as she said this, Arata was continuing to fight his way through the crowd, though with little success. "ARATA! THAT WASN'T A REQUEST! THAT WAS A DIRECT ORDER! GO!"

Arata winced as he went back and forth with himself as to what to do. As he contemplated, the Dopants at the truck finished their work, and the truck resumed down the road. Eventually, Arata gave in and replied, "Understood! I'm going!" He then called to his bike, which sprung back up and shot through the crowd of Dopants, knocking them all aside as it zipped towards Arata. As soon as it was close enough, Arata leapt onto it and drove down the street as fast as he could. Several of the Dopants tried to get in his way, but he used his sword to bat as many of them away as he could.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to the truck as it sped down the road. With an extra little bit of push, Arata was able to drive up next to the driver's side of the truck. Gripping his sword tightly, he slashed the door open and sent it tumbling down the road behind them, taking out a few trailing Dopants in the process. But Arata was caught off guard as he saw not a Dopant behind the wheel, but a tactically-dressed coyote smiling coyly at him. He didn't have much time to ogle, though, as the canine kicked him directly in the face as he stared. This knocked him wildly off balance, and he and his bike swerved wildly as a result. Arata was thrown off of his bike, causing the both of them to tumble and roll across the street, with his bike screeching into a nearby building. The armored panther growled as he craned his neck up to watch the truck drive away. He slammed his fist down on the ground before reaching to his side and re-slotting his Memory.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Again, his body burst into a howling blizzard. It swept down the road and focused around the truck, once again freezing it in place and keeping it from moving. Once it stopped, Arata re-formed in front of it with his sword gripped firmly in paw. With a grunt, the coyote hopped down from the truck and dusted his paws off. He gave Arata a smirk of confidence and cracked his knuckles before he rushed towards him. This caught Arata off guard as he hastily defended himself, hesitating in using his sword against an unarmored opponent.

"Come on, what's wrong?" the coyote taunted, "I thought you were the highly regarded 'hero of the city!'" Arata grunted as he was struck in the gut multiple times. It was becoming increasingly clear to him that the coyote was well trained in combat, which only made matters worse for the untrained Rider. He exclaimed in surprise as the coyote managed to disarm him and slashed him across the chest with his own sword. As he stumbled back from the blows, he suddenly found his arms restrained by a Dopant. He looked around frantically as he struggled and watched as what _had_ to be the entire army crowding around him and the coyote and boxing them in. The coyote quickly closed in on him and struck him multiple times, with Arata unable to defend with his arms being held back. Luckily for him, this didn't last long. After enduring what had felt like a relentless amount of blows, the Dopants let him go. He sighed out as his knees hit the ground, his legs having gave out on him from exhaustion and weakness. The coyote looked down on him triumphantly as he fiddled with his sword.

"You know I was looking _forward_ to meeting you, Zero," he said pleasantly, slinging the sword over his shoulder, "I was worried that you wouldn't show up, despite everything that's been going on with the city recently." A low growl sounded out from deep within Arata's throat.

"Who are you guys?" he asked between panting breaths, "And what are you after?" The coyote smiled widely at him and stepped back a couple steps.

"Oh, that's not all that important right now," he replied, "Just think of us as old visitors who haven't been around these parts since Day Zero." Arata gasped upon the mention of that infamous day. Seeing this reaction, the coyote chuckled before making a gesture with his paw to the Dopants. "Alright, take him out of here," he commanded before hopping back in the now freed truck and driving away. Arata shouted and frantically struggled back up to his feet. As he tried to run after the canine, the large crowd of Dopants cut him off.

"Arata, you have to retreat!" shouted Tech through their link. Arata growled in frustration.

"But the others! And they still have the pod!"

"I know that!" Tech barked at him, "But there's no way you're going to be able to take all of these guys on! Not with how many there are, and not to mention how many _more_ there can be!" Arata narrowly avoided a swipe from several of the Dopants' swings.  
"We have to regroup, Arata! We'll think of a plan once you're safe!"

Arata growled in frustration, then in defeat. "Fine, I'm on my way." One final time, he re-slotted his Memory into his side slot and burst into a blizzard before sweeping himself up and away.

* * *

Arata sat in brooding silence as him and Tech's eyes were on the screen before them. They were back in the usable Amnesia facility room and were watching the news channel for any new developments.

" _The city lockdown remains in effect," reported Brenda Illwood, "and citizens are asked at this time to please remain calm. The city is currently under attack by what is explained as a rogue band of Dopants, and it remains unclear whether or not they operate under the command of The Earth's Tree. Again, citizens are asked to remain calm, as our Amnesia operatives are doing their best in countering this attack. Citizens are advised to remain wary and cautious, and to not leave their hideouts for the time being. Rest assured that our t**m i* wor***g their har**d*** **"_

Arata and Tech sat up as the news feed became distorted, eventually being reduced to nothing but static. Arata was about to ask the vixen next to him what was going on, but suddenly the static began to clear. However, as the video feed returned, a very different image from the last filled the screen. It was the silhouette of a dark, shadowed figure.

"Hello citizens of Jinsoku," a heavily filtered voice came through, shocking Arata and Tech, "you may not know who we are, but _we_ are familiar with _you_."

"T-Tech?!" Arata exclaimed, looking over to her nervously.

"I'm on it!" she replied as she rushed out of her seat and over to a nearby console.

"In case you haven't already figured it out by now, _we_ are the reason your city is under siege." Arata growled through his teeth and shifted around in his seat uncomfortably. "Now, I know you must be scared right now, and that's fine. In fact, it's perfectly normal and honestly quite appropriate. You _should_ be scared, people of Jinsoku." An involuntary snarl escaped from Arata's throat. "Fear is good. Fear is _natural_. Fear keeps you from doing something stupid, like say…trying to resist an unstoppable force. Like _us_ for instance. So it's _appropriate_ to fear us." The image wavered for a moment and went to static, but it soon cleared up as the broadcast resumed. "If you _aren't_ afraid yet, then let me try and _convince_ you. I don't think it'll be hard to, though. If I've learned anything from what you people dubbed, 'Day Zero,' it's _that_."

Arata's heart throbbed.

"Now you may be asking yourselves," he went on, "Why would a man shrouded and hidden behind a filter bring up such an important day in Jinsoku history? Well, my patient viewers, that is because we're more involved in your city's history than you might realize. Before I explain, though, I'd like you all to recall the panic that swept through the city as it was overtaken. Recall the screams of fear, the frantic foot stomps of everyone who tried to flee. I'm sure that, after the chaos, you all were wondering, 'Who? Who could be responsible for such chaos?'" Again, he paused. "That would be us."

At that, time seemed to screech to a halt for Arata. _These_ people were the ones responsible for that day?! He thought they had been sent to prison and locked away for the rest of their lives! But they were out?! How?! And why?! Who had let these maniacs out?! A bizarre fusion of fear and anger swelled from within Arata. Those Dopants, that Coyote. They were responsible for everyone's fears and distress! They were the ones that destroyed parts of the city, and took away several of his family members! THEY were the ones that put them in the situation they were in now, and they were BACK! WHY WERE THEY BACK?! WERE THEY GOING TO DESTROY THE CITY AGAIN?! WHY DIDN'T HE RECOGNIZE ANY OF THE DOPANTS?! WERE THEY EVEN THE SAME DOPANTS?!

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen," he went on, cutting Arata off of his thoughts, " _we_ were the ones responsible for Day Zero, and we're _back_. The first time we overtook your city, we weren't as strong. But we've grown, and we've evolved, and now we are stronger than ever. There used to be just a few of us, but now…" The footage suddenly cut to a different scene; the streets of Jinsoku. However, rather than presenting empty roads, a horde of armored Dopants swarmed the streets. "Now we have all of the men we could ever want." The footage remained on the streets as the figure went on. "Of course, it's _still_ possible that someone could come along and stop us. Like…say…your precious Team Amnesia." This time, Tech was the one to tense up. "Ah yes, Team Amnesia. I'm _sure_ you have complete faith in them. Especially _now_ , when their base is in ruins, and the majority of their team being out of commission. But it's fine. After all, you still have _three_ members left. And trust me, I know, because we've got them right _here._ " Again, the footage cut to a new scene. This time however, Arata and Tech were presented with a disturbing sight. 1, 2 and 6 were all tied up in a dark, nondescript room, all of them without their armor on.

"Guys…" Tech gasped in horror, her eyes glued to the screen, "No…"

"Oh, but I'm _sure_ it'll be fine," the figure went on, "After all, they have that quick healing technology that lets them heal faster. _Surely_ they would use that _now_." He paused for a moment, and Arata almost felt that he could hear the figure audibly grin. "Well, you'd be _correct_ in believing that assumption…had we not taken that technology of theirs for ourselves." The figure allowed a chuckle to escape from his lips. "So I guess, all that leaves you is your precious hero… The one you call, 'Kamen Rider Zero…'" Arata felt his heart begin to race. He had a feeling that he knew what he would see next. And as if on cue, the footage changed once more. This time, Arata was the one presented, with footage of the fight that had taken place not too long ago. As he expected, he was forced to watch himself get beaten down by the countless amount of Dopants. Only a minute passed before he was shown facing off against the coyote that had been driving the truck, though his face was hidden from view of the camera.

"I _believe_ that's your hero, right?" the figure continued, "the one that you're watching get beaten down like a piñata at a child's birthday party? Hmm, yeah, I can see why you'd have such faith in him…" A snarl escaped from Arata's throat. "I hope you all realize by now that _no one_ is going to come and save you people from us. Without your…guardians, your protectors, your city is as good as ours. Sure, you yourselves could try and fight back, but without Gaia Memories of your own to fight against us," he paused to laugh, "I wouldn't suggest it." The footage cut away again, this time cycling through various streets as crowds of Dopants marched down them. "You've relied on your heroes for so long, and now that they're out of the picture, you have nothing left to protect you. I'll tell you right now; not even your little _lockdown_ procedures are gonna protect you from us. So I'd gather your loved ones. Have a heart to heart with them. Really cherish your time with them. Just be prepared for what's coming, because the Great Crusade has officially begun…"

At that, the footage began to melt away into static. By the time it cleared, the footage was back on the news broadcasting room, where random furs were rushing past the camera as everyone rushed to evacuate the building. And as abruptly as it came back, the footage was cut off and replaced with a standby screen.

Tech jerked as she heard a sudden noise. She swung her gaze around to see Arata gathering his things. "I have to go," he declared as he put on his jacket.

"W-wait a minute!" the vixen exclaimed, "I think I can figure out where they're hiding 1 and the others from the footage we saw, so just give me a minute!" Arata ignored her and latched his Driver onto his waist. Once it was on, he hurried towards the door. "Wait!" Tech shouted at him, "Where are you going?!"

"I have to stop them!" Arata replied, his paw already on the doorknob, "Just let me know whenever you find—"

"Arata, don't be stupid!" Tech cut him off, "You saw how many of them there are out there, didn't you?! Listen, I know you want to prevent another Day Zero from happening, Arata. I get it. But we need to think of a strategy before we—"

"They were on Erika's street, Tech!" Arata snapped, causing Tech's mouth to clamp shut. Arata growled before he threw the door open and rushed through it.

"Arata!" Tech shouted to him. He ignored her and rushed outside, transforming into Zero as he mounted his bike. As soon as Tech heard the roar of his engine, she knew he was already gone. She hissed and paced around the room in frustration.

"Dammit, Arata," she growled, "You better not get hurt out there…"

* * *

Arata's heart was racing almost as fast as his bike was as it zoomed down the streets of Jinsoku. As he did, he barreled through several Dopants as they tried to get in his way. Soon enough, he came across Erika's street. As he came up, he saw that there were just as many Dopants as there had been on the broadcasted footage. However, the scene laid out before him was far more horrifying than what had been shown before. Now, rather than just march down the street, the Dopants were breaking into homes and pulling citizens straight out of them. In the center of the street, a large crowd of terrified citizens were rallied, and among that crowd was…

 _Erika!_ Arata kicked his engines up a notch and shot down the street, barraging his way through the crowd of Dopants before screeching to a halt just in front of the huddled crowd. "Is everyone alright?!" he shouted over the commission. Now realizing who he was, the crowd suddenly exploded into cheers. This caught him off guard for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. He quickly drew the gun holstered at his side and shot down the street again, firing at the Dopants and fending them off as he tried to create an opening. Eventually, he leapt off of his bike and fought with the Dopants personally. At the same time, he guided his bike with his mind to help maintain his newly created opening. "Hurry everyone!" he shouted to the crowd, "Get out of here while you can!"

After a brief moment of hesitation, the crowd began to move and hurry down Arata's created path. Several Dopants tried to grab at the many people trying to escape, but Arata's bike kept them from getting too close. One by one, they made it out of the Dopant infested crowd and rushed down the streets, trying to get as far away from there as possible. Again, the Dopants tried to grab at them, but Arata made sure to keep them at bay as best as he could.

"Keep going!" he shouted with difficulty, struggling to keep up with the Dopants _and_ the crowd he was defending, "Get somewhere safe!" He suddenly stopped as he saw a familiar face come up from the rear of the crowd. With a shout, Arata kicked the nearest Dopant to him hard in the chest and sent it tumbling backwards into the ones behind it. With them occupied, Arata turned to face Erika, who ran up and stopped just in front of him.

"A…Arata…" she said with a wavering voice. Arata glanced back and forth between her and a rapidly approaching Dopant. He growled and shot at it to keep it at bay. "Arata I want to help…b-but…" Arata looked to her, seeing the pain, sorrow and fear in her eyes. Arata growled again and shook his head, pushing the snow leopard forward with a free paw.

"Just don't worry about it right now!" he exclaimed, blasting several more Dopants back, "I've got this! Just get somewhere safe!" Erika stood there for a moment in hesitation before eventually rushing down the street and out of sight. "Ack!" he shouted in pain as he was struck in the back, having been too distracted to have monitored everyone. As he stumbled, he heard his bike crash into a nearby building out of his line of sight. He suddenly remembered that the crowd was still being chased, and that he had neglected keeping up with them. But he didn't have time to grieve over this fact, because the Dopants still in the area all began to circle around him, each of them brandishing their weapons, and some of them openly laughing.

 _Wait,_ he thought, _none of them are multiplying… Do they have a limit on the copies they can make?_ He didn't find the answer. Instead, the Dopants all charged at him, swinging their swords at him wildly. Arata snarled as he struggled to fight back, his mind having difficulty keeping up with everything, as it had been strained from having to command his bike for such an extended period of time. Getting fed up with being treated as a walking punching bag, Arata tore his Memory out of his belt and jammed it into the slot of his gun.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He pulled the trigger and blasted the cluster of Dopants in front of him with a wave of ice, trapping several of them in place. Once they were trapped, Arata rushed through them and rammed his fists into them all, destroying as many of them as he could as quickly as he could. However, as soon as the Dopants were eliminated, more melted into existence and took their places. Arata growled in frustration as he was forced back to square one and defended himself against the group.

 _12,_ he thought, _there's 12 of them. So if this is one group, then that makes 11 copies…_ What this meant exactly, he couldn't figure out, as his mind was pre-occupied with dealing with all twelve of them at once. As he fought, he struggled to look for anything that would give away the original Dopant. But a sudden crescendo of shouts and screams cut his efforts off abruptly. In a jolt of fear, he snapped his gaze to the direction the cries had come from. And to his horror, he saw the crowd of citizens from before being rallied back by a separate group of Dopants. "No!" he cried out before struggling to fight his way to them. However, the Dopants he was still dealing with kept him from getting very far. None of them would let him pass, and he was finding it almost impossible to move them out of his way. He looked past them and saw all the eyes of the frightened citizens on him. At that point, he realized two things. The first was that his chances of winning this were slim to none. And the second?

The Dopants wanted the citizens to watch him lose.

"For GOD'S SAKE, ARATA!" screamed Tech suddenly, "That's enough! Get the hell out of there!"

"B…but those people!" Arata shouted with genuine pain.

"I know!" Tech shouted back, "I know it sucks, but you HAVE to get out of there! Do you _really_ want to get captured too?! Do you want to leave the city without someone to fight for it?!" Arata hesitated, torn between abandoning the people right in front of him, or risking himself by fighting against this seemingly endless horde.

"Well, well, _well_ ," called a familiar voice, prompting everyone including the Dopants to suddenly stop and back away from each other, "Isn't _this_ a treat?" Confused, Arata turned before stopping and letting out a low growl. It was the coyote from before, and he was making his way through the crowd of Dopants just out of the line of sight from the nearby citizens. "I knew you were persistent, but I didn't realize that you were stupid enough to think that you could stand a chance against us." Arata was about to make a remark, only to stop as he noticed something strapped to the canine's waist. It was a Driver, one just like his and Amnesia's. Seeing that he had taken notice of it, the coyote smirked and placed a paw on it. "Oh you noticed this, huh? Yeah, it wasn't easy to get it off of your friend. These things are hard to crack open, so we only managed to get our hands on _one_ of these things."

Arata snarled involuntarily. "What do you mean?! You took it from them?!"

"Yes _indeed_ ," he answered with a sly smile, "And I'm glad we got it when we did, cuz' now I get to test it out for myself. And what better way to test it out than on the battlefield, against the one and only Kamen Rider Zero?" He pulled out a sleek black Memory from his pocket and clicked the button at the front.

CRUSADE!

The coyote waved it around a bit before tossing it into the Driver, prompting a sound of confirmation from the device. He rolled his neck and shoulders before resting his paw on top of the Driver. "Henshin," he declared before slanting the Driver, prompting the Memory inside to respond.

CRUSADE!

A deep purple aura pulsated out of the Driver as the coyote's body was covered in sleek, black, segmented armor. The armor progressed upwards before finally enveloping his head, shrinking his snout down and forming a sharp face plate over it. A crest formed on his forehead, and glowing red eyes grew into existence. The coyote rolled his neck again and sighed in satisfaction, flexing his arms and fingers. "This feels _great_ ," he laughed, "No _wonder_ you jump at the opportunity to transform whenever you can." He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. "You know what? I think I wanna be a Kamen Rider too." Arata growled harshly, clenching his paws into tight fists. "Yeah, and I know the perfect name too. Kamen Rider…Crusade."

"You people don't deserve a name like that," Arata growled, his fists beginning to tremble, "You LEAST of all!"

"Is that so?" Crusade huffed before raising a hand up. He motioned with his fingers before barking a command. Suddenly, something was thrown into the air and clattered on the ground in front of Arata's feet. He looked down and saw that it was his sword. He quickly moved his gaze back over to Crusade, who was still flexing and stretching. "Go on then," said Crusade mockingly, "Take it. You want to take that name away from me? Then beat me and shut me up for good." Arata snarled and bent down to pick it up. As he did, Crusade reached back and grabbed onto two handles attached to his back. He pried them off and pulled their triggers, prompting shadowy beams to jut out from the handles. Crusade laughed and twirled his beam sabers around intimidatingly. "Come on, Zero," he hissed as he crouched down and took on a wide stance, "Show me what heroes are made of." Arata uttered a battle roar as he charged forward, swinging wildly at Crusade. But the other Rider easily outmaneuvered him, avoiding most of his swings and blocking the rest with one of his sabers. And as Arata attacked, Crusade couldn't help but laugh at his efforts. "Oh come _on_ ," he taunted, avoiding another swing, "You're barely even TRYING!" Arata cried out as Crusade swung with one of his sabers, slashing it across his chest and sending sparks flying everywhere. As Arata staggered back, Crusade assaulted him with several more strikes, leaving noticeable gashes across his armor.

"Arata!" Tech screamed in horror. This was echoed by the citizens as well, who were more or less forced to watch this ordeal unfold before them.

"GAH!" Arata cried out as he was knocked off of his feet and thrown onto his back. He frantically swung his sword around him as he clawed back up to his feet, trying to keep the nearby Dopants at bay. But by the time he got up, he realized that they had all stepped back. This wasn't their fight anymore. This was between him and Crusade.

"Having fun yet?" Crusade taunted before two doubles of him melted out of his body, "Because I sure am." With an intimidating growl, him and his doubles rushed towards Arata and attacked. Again, he cried out as he took the blows, getting knocked off of his feet once more and landing heavily on his back.

"Arata!" screamed Tech, "Get out of there! NOW!" Arata's heart leaped as one of the doubles leapt upon him and tried to skewer him with one of his sabers. Arata acted purely out of reflex and moved out of the way, striking the double back with a well-timed swing. But as that Crusade staggered back, the other two leapt in to take his place and attacked him again. Arata hastily scrambled backwards as he tried to avoid their swings. This made it harder for him to get back up, which he managed to do only after the Crusades let up. He backed away and took on a defensive stance, angry that Crusade was clearly toying with him at this point, and distressed over the whole situation.

"But…Tech," he grumbled, trying to keep his voice low, "If I leave now, everyone watching will lose hope." He exclaimed in surprise as one of the many Dopants standing behind him crept up and pushed him forward, making him stumble right into the swing of one of the Crusades.

"And if you stay and get caught, there won't BE any hope!" Tech snapped, "Retreat NOW, Arata!"

The Rider cried out in pain as he was knocked into the air once more, landing on his back several meters away from the Crusades. He panted heavily as he clawed up to his knees, looking over to the huddled crowd. As he did, he could see everyone's horror-filled faces. He felt that they were scared for him, but had no doubt that they were terrified over their own threatened lives. Arata tore his gaze away from them, and back to the enemies at hand. _All_ of the enemies at hand. All of the enemies that he _alone_ would have to deal with. He growled and slammed his fist into the ground. "I'm…sorry everyone…" he growled as he moved his paw over to his Driver. The Crusades took notice of this and rushed forward, ready to strike him down. But by the time they got to him, he slammed his Memory into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

A Crusade swung at him, but the second his saber made contact with the Rider, Arata's body burst into a blizzard that stunned him and made him stumble backwards. The blizzard swept through the crowd of Dopants and Crusades before eventually blowing away and shooting off into the distance, leaving all of them with nothing but bits of snow littering their armor. And as the blizzard left, Crusade chuffed in amusement and dusted some snow off of his shoulder. He then switched off his sabers, and his doubles melded back into his body. He then turned towards the crowd of gathered civilians and laughed. He could see it so easily, it was as bright as daylight; their disheartened souls as their supposed "hero" fled from the fight, leaving them to fend for themselves.

"So do you people see now?" he shouted to them, raising his hands out to the sides, "Your 'hero' has left you all behind to save himself. Now you have _no one left_ to come to your rescue. You are all at the _mercy_ of us. So I'd suggest playing along and complying, because I _can't_ guarantee your personal safety otherwise…" The people looked amongst one another as they mumbled to themselves, holding their loved ones close. As they did this, Crusade chuckled and folded his arms. Things were going well; the Great Crusade was off to a fantastic start. And it was only going to get better from here…

* * *

Arata grunted as he crashed through the door and stumbled into the room out of his armor and panting from exhaustion. As soon as she saw him, Tech rushed over to his side and helped him into the nearest chair. Once he was seated, Arata continued to pant and let his head hang back as he tried to regain the stamina that had been drained from his body. "Are you alright?" the vixen asked in concern as she checked and inspected his body for any injuries.

"I feel… _terrible_ ," he huffed between pants, "I had to…abandon them! All of them! I feel…I feel like DIRT, Tech!"

"There wasn't ANYTHING you could have done there, Arata," Tech said sternly at him, looking up from her inspection.

"I could have stayed and FOUGHT!" Arata growled back, lifting his head up to look back at her.

"Right, fought and gotten yourself BEATEN half to death, and then CAPTURED in front of everyone, leaving the entirety of Jinsoku TRULY defenseless!" Tech snapped, silencing Arata and making his ears lower in submission.

"I…" he began with a wavering voice, "I…" His eyes shut closed and he turned away, grimacing and bearing his teeth. He breathed heavily as he fought down his tears. Tech didn't say anything after that. Instead, she continued her inspection and let the panther be. "…I'm sorry," he mumbled, making one of Tech's ear's twitch up.

"It's alright," she replied, "Everyone's just stressed right now."

"That's putting things lightly…" he mumbled again, earning a half-hearted chuff from Tech. "Tech…what are we gonna do? There's just…so _many_ of them… And to top things off, they've got our recovery pod."

"I know…" Tech replied as she pulled one of Arata's sleeves up, "We're in a pretty tight spot here…"

"Again…putting it lightly," Arata replied. Tech rolled her eyes playfully at him as she finished her check-up. She then walked over to her console and clicked through different screens.

"Well," she began, "A good place to start would be get our numbers back up. With the footage that was broadcasted, I'll be able to figure out what building 1 and the others are being held in. Once I've got a place, our first move will be getting them out of there."

Arata attempted to sit up, only to fail as his body refused him to. "They're…probably going to be expecting that, y'know."

"I know," Tech replied with a nod, "But what they _won't_ be expecting is _you_."

Arata blinked, caught off guard from the statement. "…What do you mean?"

"Well, from the footage that I've collected from the _functional_ street cams," she began, "I've noticed that the Dopants don't search the people they capture. No checking for weapons or anything like that." She then turned to face him. It was at that point that he began to catch on.

"So…you want me to get myself captured by them…and possibly be led into wherever they're holding everyone. Then once I'm inside, I break everyone out as Zero?"

"You've got it," Tech confirmed with a nod. Arata furrowed a brow.

"Wait…but if I do that…won't that mean revealing my identity to everyone there?"

Tech pursed her lips at that. "Well…it's a consequence that we'll have to deal with after everything's all said and done." Arata nodded somberly. She was right; there were far more important things to worry about at the moment. "But try and scout the city before you get captured. We don't want it to be obvious that you're doing it on purpose, so be sure to put up a fight, alright?"

"Got it," Arata replied with a nod, "So then…when should I get started?"

"Tomorrow, when you're all rested up," Tech answered him, "You'll need your energy, and I still have investigating to do." She glanced over to him, noticing his disgruntled expression. "Hey," she called to him, making him look up to her, "don't argue with me on this one, ok? You can barely stand as you are right now."

"Yeah, b-but only right now," he sat up slightly as he went on, "Just…give me a couple minutes and—"

"Arata!" she barked, at him. Arata quickly shut his muzzle, biting his lip as the two of them stared at each other silently. But this silence was broken as Arata hissed through his teeth. He turned away as he found himself fighting tears down once again. Seeing this, Tech softened up and sighed through her nose. "Arata…"

"It just…SUCKS," he muttered, his voice trembling on him slightly, "I had to abandon them, Tech… I had to leave them in their time of need… They _needed_ me… They were looking _straight_ at me! And I _couldn't_ …I-I couldn't…" He didn't say anything after that, as his throat wouldn't allow him. So instead he sobbed to himself silently as he failed to suppress the tears that were now flooding out of his eyes. Tech sighed again and went over to his side, gently resting her paw on his shoulder.

"I know, Arata…" she said softly, "These things happen in our line of work. You just have to push through it and keep fighting…" Arata didn't respond, but Tech hadn't expected him to. She patted his shoulder gently before returning to her console, letting Arata be. Though he had managed to stop himself from sobbing any further, he was still shivering and wiping tears from his eyes.

 _Keep fighting…_ he thought, _Keep fighting… I'll make it up to everyone… I'll rescue everyone tomorrow… Everyone… Erika…please be safe…_

* * *

The next day found Arata stalking through the streets with his hoodie pulled over his head. Though he knew Tech had eyes on him through the working street cameras, Arata still felt as alone as ever. He gasped slightly as he caught sight of several Dopants coming his way. He quickly hid behind a large trash bin and held his breath as they walked by. Once Arata felt that it was safe enough, he stepped out of his hiding spot and got moving again.

"Arata," came Tech's voice through his ear-piece, "do you see those two Dopants on the other side of the block? Do your best to follow them. I think they might lead you to where they're keeping everyone." Arata didn't respond, as per the plan. For his own safety, he wasn't to respond to anything Tech told him. "Watch your left," she suddenly said. Arata looked and quickly hid away, squatting down behind a busted up car until the Dopants passed him by. "You're good," said Tech, "Go on ahead." Arata carefully stood back up and proceeded onwards, being sure to scan the area around him as frequently as possible. "Eyes on the prize, Arata. I've got your back, so just focus on the ones you're trailing." Arata eased a breath out as he moved his gaze back to the two Dopants ahead of him. As he followed them, Arata found himself taking more and more turns, making it all the more difficult to find places to hide. Eventually, he reached a long alleyway between buildings.

"Arata, be careful here. You're entering an area that I can't monitor you from." Arata bit his lip and shifted his weight between his feet. "Good luck, Arata. Be safe." Arata closed his eyes and evened out his breathing, trying to keep himself as calm as he could. He checked the alleyway again one last time before finally slipping into it. Despite being behind several buildings, Arata felt even more vulnerable than he had been before. Here, there were no walls he could hide behind, and the trash bins were few and far between. Thankfully for him, the trip didn't last long. After a few turns, he caught sight of where the two Dopants were headed; a large and seemingly abandoned warehouse. He crouched down behind a nearby crate as he watched the Dopants approach the large door. One of them knocked on it, and it swung open for them. And as they stepped in, Arata caught a glimpse of the crowd of people being held inside.

Arata realized that he was clenching his fist and relaxed it, trying to keep his mind focused on the task at hand. After the two Dopants stepped inside, Arata carefully got up and started towards the large building.

"HEY!" a loud voice made Arata jump. He quickly whirled around and saw a Dopant rushing towards him from his rear. His heart leapt and he made a break for it, running in the opposite direction. But once his gaze was forward again, he realized too late that there were several other Dopants standing in his way. They caught him and held his arms back, restricting his movements as they all made their way towards the warehouse.

"Thought you could sneak up on us and take a peek, huh?" taunted one of the Dopants, "Well how about we give you a closer look inside then?" Arata growled and tried to struggle out of their grip.

"Arata?" came Tech's voice, "You've been caught, haven't you? Ok, just stay calm, and try to resist moderately. Don't overdo it." Arata hissed through his teeth as he tried to free his arms. But the Dopants merely tightened their grip on him and overpowered him, completely locking Arata's arms from movement. One of the Dopants knocked on the door, and it opened it up again, allowing Arata to get a better look at what was inside.

And what he saw made his heart sink.

All around, there were people trapped in cages, many hugging their loved ones close as they tried to comfort one another. Many had jerked violently as the Dopants dragged Arata in. The panther stared at the scene in horror as he himself was dragged over to a cage already occupied by a group of frightened people and tossed into it as it was opened up for him. He landed with a grunt as the door to the cage was closed and locked behind him. The Dopants didn't even say a word as they walked away, seeming to go right back to their business.

"Arata, are y** alright?" asked Tech, her side being muffled slightly by static, "If it's safe t* *alk, tell me w*** you se*." Gingerly, Arata picked himself off of the ground and stood up. The place was _filled_ with cages, and those cages were filled with people. All around, he could see children clinging to their parents to support. Looking closer, he noticed a pair of paws clasped to each other from opposite cages. It didn't take Arata long to realize that they were a mother and child that had been put in separate cages for whatever reason. Both children and adults alike were crying out of fear, with some seeming to be on the verge of a full on breakdown. "A**ta?" came Tech's voice again, "If ***'re not saf* yet, don't s** any**ing. If y** are, tell me qui**ly wh*t you see."

A slight snarl escaped Arata's lips as he answered, "I see a wrong that needs to be righted…" He looked up and scanned the area around him, ignoring the group of people in his cage that seemed to be doing the same to him. Though he couldn't make out anyone that looked like the troopers or Erika, he managed to spot where any of the Dopants were. He could see several Dopants perched up above in the rafters, watching over the caged civilians like vultures. Arata lowered his gaze from them and continued to scan the crowd.

"Ok, I know th*t you'r* trying to be dramat*c with tha* sta*ement, but I seri*ously need to kn** wh**'s going on."

With a slight huff, Arata sat down and whispered, "We're in a huge warehouse, and all of the people they've captured so far are being kept in cages." He pursed his lips. "I still haven't seen Erika or the troopers yet. I'm gonna keep looking before I try to break everyone out—" He stopped as he heard sudden yelps from the other side of the warehouse. Arata immediately sat up and scanned the area, taking notice of a Dopant opening up one of the cages and prying several people out of it.

"Wh*t hap*ened?" asked Tech. Arata's heart began to pound.

"The Dopants are pulling some people out of their cage," he whispered nervously, "I-I don't know what's going on." The frightened citizens were thrown into the clear center of the building. Several fell to the floor before they could catch their balance. As they all huddled up against each other, the Dopants split themselves up and surrounded the helpless furs. As soon as the last one was thrown into the clearing, the ones still in cages all began to shout in fear and protest. This only made Arata tense up even more as he waited in anticipation for what was about to happen.

"Alright, LISTEN UP!" shouted one of the Dopants, "Since we've got a new guest here, we'll be having another little _demonstration_!" Arata's heart sank as he heard the sounds of swords being drawn. His dread was only further spurred on as the Dopants began to bang their blades against their shields and slowly approach the helpless crowd. It wasn't long before he found himself screaming in horror along with everyone else. Suddenly, the Dopants began to dance around the group, laughing in amusement as they slashed at the ground just in front of the group's feet. As this went on, everyone in the group tried to scramble away in an attempt to avoid the swings of the Dopants. However, none of them made any attempt to run past the Dopants, for there were far too many of them, with all of them surrounding them and removing any chance of escaping. As a result, the furs fought amongst one another as they tried to force their way into the center of their group so as to protect themselves with the bodies of everyone else.

"STOP IT!" Arata screamed, grabbing tightly onto the bars of his cage and shaking them, "THIS IS INSANE! PLEASE STOP THIS!" None of the Dopants acknowledged his screams, though it was doubtful that they had heard him amongst the crescendo of screams of those around him. Eventually, Arata snarled in rage and stepped back from the bars, removing his Driver from his coat and latching it onto his waist. He then slammed his Memory into the device and shot his paw forward, slanting it and triggering his transformation.

FREEZE!

The people inside of the cage with him exclaimed in surprise as they felt a rush of cold wind wash over them from behind. Everyone around them reacted similarly as the sudden blizzard swept through the building, eventually catching the attention of the Dopants in the building. Arata whipped his arm off to the side and cast away the blizzard, revealing his armored self to everyone.

"Move aside!" he commanded the furs in his cage. They hastily moved away from him as he lunged forward and punched open the cage, sending the door flying into several Dopants and obliterating them. Arata roared out as he rushed out of the cage and towards the Dopants. As he closed in, a cluster from the crowd of Dopants broke off and herded the group of furs in the clearing out of the way whilst the rest of the Dopants ran off to confront Arata. "COME AT ME, YOU SICK BASTARDS!" he roared out in fury as he drew his sword out and parried a swing from one of the Dopants. The armored panther barely even registered how foolish of a decision he had made in taking them all on, as the sheer amount of them that were there would've been staggering. But he didn't care; he was far too filled with rage and hate. He barreled through them all, rushing past them as he made his way through the Dopant-filled warehouse. And as he ran, he slashed at the doors of the cages that he passed by, destroying the locks and causing the doors to swing wide open.

As he fought through them all, he realized that he was losing more and more space to fight in. It took a moment before he realized that he had weaved himself into the group of cages. He cringed as he struggled to maintain proper space. Though the Dopants were now being funneled through to him, he was left with far less breathing room. He snarled in frustration before drawing out his gun and firing at the Dopants. The ones immediately in front of him were knocked over, but the ones in the rear hastily dove away, leaving only the cages in his blasts' way. Arata exclaimed as his shots burst against the cage bars, producing wild sparks and prompting the occupants inside to scramble back in fear. He nearly dropped his gun out of regret, but a slash to his back quickly reminded him of why he was here. He regained his balance and turned to face his attackers, but he was only met with another strike to his back from the other side. "Damn it ALL!" Arata snarled and slammed his Memory into his side slot.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

The building was once again swept with a freak blizzard. But it was quickly canceled out and rapidly condensed back into Arata, who dropped down from the air and slammed his foot into the closest Dopant. As he landed, and the Dopant combusted, an unconscious body fell to the ground with him. The instant that it hit the ground, several of the Dopants among the crowd vanished from sight. Arata, realizing what had just happened, pumped his fist in celebration and tightened his grip on his sword.

"Arata," came Tech's voice, "Don't forget; we still need to find 1 and the others."

"R-right! On it!" he replied before rushing down the warehouse, slashing open as many cages as he could as the remaining Dopants chased after him. Arata soon found himself exiting the large warehouse and rushing down a hallway leading to various rooms. He tried to scan them through the windows as he ran past them all with Dopants still hot on his tail. "Come on… Come _on_ …" He suddenly screeched to a halt as he was cut off at a turn. He let out a battle cry as he engaged with another group, now able to safely use his gun to defend himself. He eventually managed to knock down several Dopants in his way, allowing him to rush past the rest and continue his search. "Dammit, where _are_ you guys?!" he growled in frustration. He grunted as he felt the tip of a blade hack at his back, making him stumble. He growled again before stuffing his Memory into the handle of his blade.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He roared out as he whirled around and swung at the Dopants, hurling a small wave of ice at their feet. The wave hit them, and rapidly encased their feet in a sheet of ice. The Dopants behind them slammed into them, resulting in all of them falling over each other in a big heap of metal and cloth. Now granted momentary relief, Arata rushed through as many turns as he could. He once again came screeching to a halt, tilting his head as he caught on to a strange sound. He listened closely and realized that it was the voice of 6 shouting from a distance. Realizing that he was getting close, Arata doubled his efforts and followed the sound of 6's voice.

"OVER HERE!" he heard her shout, making him run _even_ faster. Eventually, he found the room where the cries were coming from. He ran up to the door and threw it open, revealing the tied-up troopers on the other side of it.

"Guys!" he exclaimed, rushing over to their side.

"Save the reunion speech for later!" 6 cut him off, motioning to the bonds around their paws with her snout. "Just get these ropes off of us!"

"Right," Arata nodded before moving in to cut at the ropes with his sword.

"Arata behind you!" 2 suddenly barked. Arata turned and was met with a strike to his shoulder, making him grunt in pain. He quickly brought up his gun and shot at the Dopants coming into the room. As they staggered out of it, Arata pulled the trigger on his sword.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

He swung hard and threw another wave of ice at them, trapping them all once more. Once he saw that they were taken care of, Arata quickly got back to cutting at the troopers' bonds. He hastened his efforts as he started to hear the sharp sounds of ice cracking. "Almost…got it…" His heart raced as he hurried, nearly through with the large knots keeping the troopers from pulling themselves free. And practically all at once, he heard the loud cracks of broken ice and the snaps of the rope as his sword cut through. Arata turned in time to block a strike to his head with his sword, struggling against the Dopant as the troopers scrambled out of the way and jumped into action. 2 ran up to one of the Dopants and quickly disarmed it of its sword. She slashed it back as 1 grappled another Dopant and rammed it into the wall. 6 ran forward as well and tackled several of the Dopants out of the way, clearing a path to the door. Arata shot the Dopant he was dealing with backwards before tossing 6 his gun. She caught it and used it to blast the fallen Dopants back, allowing the group to make their escape.

"I'm taking point!" 6 shouted, "Arata, take the rear!" The Rider didn't argue as everyone else got into position, rushing down the hall as fast as they could.

"Do you guys know where they put your stuff?" Arata asked, constantly checking behind him as they ran.

"Don't bother with our guns!" shouted 6, "All of us but 2 have our Drivers and Memories. The bastards took 2's right off of her!"

"Yeah! I noticed that!" Arata replied, "Their damn leader is using it for himself now!"

"What?!" 2 shouted, "How did they get it to work?! We tightened their security up ever since _you_ happened!"

"We can discuss this later!" 1 cut them all off, "Right now we need to focus on getting out of here!"

"Do you guys have any idea how to escort everyone out of here?!" Arata asked, checking the rear again.

"Escort?" questioned 1, "Arata, we just can't _do_ that right now!" Arata swung his gaze over to the Komodo dragon in shock.

"Arata, there are just _too many_ of those Dopants out there to fight," said 2, "There's just _no_ way that we can fight them off if we try and get everyone else out!" Arata growled in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Arata," said 1, "But with the way things are right now, we're just gonna have to accept it."

"Like I'm gonna accept that!" Arata growled before breaking off from the group, causing everyone to shout after him. Arata screeched to a halt as his path was cut off by a group of Dopants. He snarled in anger before beating them all away with his blade and fighting through them. "I'm NOT leaving everyone behind a SECOND time in a row! You guys just get out of here! I'm taking things from here!"

He ignored everyone's shouts of protest as he continued to fight his way through the Dopant crowd. 6 growled in frustration before breaking off as well, shouting back, "You guys go! I'm gonna go get his dumbass back here!" She shouted after Arata as she pursued him, blasting Dopants away as she ran. Eventually, she caught up to him as he hit a denser group he was having difficulty in dealing with. "Arata!" 6 shouted over the commotion, "Think about this for a sec—"

"Forget it!" Arata snapped, beating several Dopants away from himself, "I'm getting everyone out of here, and that's final!" With a roar, he swung hard and knocked all of the Dopants in his way onto their backs. He wasted no time in rushing past them and re-entering the holding area. To his dismay, everyone was still in their cages, with their locks re-secured and replaced. He had no time to grieve over this though, as the Dopants that he had left behind quickly caught up to him and attacked.

"Arata!" 6 shouted as she caught up to them all, blasting several out of her way and joining his side. They fought hard to keep them all at bay, but this only resulted in the two of them being forced out into the open center of the warehouse, surrounded by the crowd of Dopants. Their struggles only increased as the Dopants multiplied their numbers, increasing the pressure on them by tenfold. 6 exclaimed as she was knocked over and overtaken by the Dopants. They hoisted her up and restrained her by the arms as she struggled against them.

"6!" Arata shouted as he tried to fight his way over to her. However, the Dopants remained in his way and prevented him from getting any closer to her. Arata slashed at them in fury, trying to knock them all aside. After one particular swing, the Dopants left an opening for him. Arata instinctively ran towards it, intent on getting to 6 before they could take her away. But just before he could reach her, a powerful strike knocked him into the air and back into the center of the area. Arata grunted as he hit the ground where the Dopants had cleared themselves from, seeming to withdraw from the fight and surround him. And as the armored panther clawed back onto his feet and looked up, he realized why.

Crusade had stepped in.

Arata tensed as the armored jackal laughed, idly swishing his beam saber around. "Well, well, _well_ ," Crusade shouted to the crowd, slowly circling Arata as he got back up, "It looks like you people will be getting an even _better_ demonstration today. After all, who better to demonstrate on than _Zero_?!" Arata tightened his grip on his blade as Crusade continued to circle him. "Of course, _most_ of you here today already know how this went," he taunted, pointing his saber at Arata, "But I think it's important that EVERYONE knows how much of a disadvantage your city has over us." Crusade laughed again as he reached back and drew out his other saber. It sparked to life in his paw the second it was out, and Crusade splayed both of his weapons out to his sides in a show of confidence. All eyes were on them as the two of them circled the area.

Suddenly, Crusade feigned a charge, making Arata flinch. Crusade laughed again, looking behind him to the crowd before whirling around and charging Arata for real. Arata hastily parried a swing and blocked his follow up, the force of it making him stagger back several steps. Crusade kept at him with his ruthless assault, beating at Arata mercilessly and keeping him on the defensive. At one point, Arata stepped back to far and was met with a slash to the back by one of the Dopants. Arata cried out in pain as he was struck, making him falter and walk right into Crusade's next attack. He hit the ground rolling as the Dopants cheered on Crusade, who laughed and rolled his neck as he casually walked towards him. "Is that the best you've got?" he taunted, standing over his opponent.

Arata growled and slammed his fist into the ground. He slashed at Crusade's feet, missing wildly as he laughed and backed way just out of his reach. Arata quickly clawed back up to his feet and lunged at Crusade, only to miss as he and a newly produced double split off to the side. Arata snarled in frustration and slammed his Memory into his blade.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

As Crusade rushed towards him, Arata pulled the trigger on his blade and swung forward, hurling a wave of ice straight at him. He quickly side-stepped to avoid, but stopped abruptly as his foot ended up getting caught by the tail end of the attack. With his foot now frozen to the ground, Crusade stopped and tugged at his foot to try and free himself. Arata realized the opportunity he was given and immediately rushed at him. However, his double immediately got in the way and cut him off, soon to be joined by another double sent by Crusade. It didn't take long for him to free himself from the ice, resulting in Arata having to deal with three Crusades at once. All of them rushed him and attacked him mercilessly, and Arata could barely manage to keep up with them all. Their attacks came from almost every angle, and Arata had to take the majority of their blows.

He suddenly cried out in pain as all of the Crusades attacked him at once, blowing him into the air and sending him crashing through the door of the warehouse. Crusade laughed as he and his doubles followed after him at a casual pace. Arata groaned as he struggled to get back up, looking up to see that the doors of the warehouse had been knocked off of their hinges, leaving them wide open and allowing everyone inside to still get a good look at him and the Crusades. The Crusades suddenly abandoned their casual stride and rushed at Arata, prompting him to hastily straighten up and brace himself for them. But his efforts proved far too slow, resulting in him taking hits as the Crusades all ran by and slashed him across the body.

Soon, it wasn't just three Crusades. More and more began to form and eventually had Arata completely surrounded. Now there were 12 Crusades, all of which just as deadly as the first, and all of which were hacking away at Arata's battered body.

"RaaaAAAAHH!" Arata screamed out, prying his Memory out of his sword and slamming it into the slot at his side.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

His body burst into a blizzard, causing many of the Crusades to get caught up in it. All of the others quickly backed away as they were frozen in place. Soon enough, the blizzard condensed back into Arata's body as he hung in mid-air. He didn't stay there for long, as he slapped the button on his side slot and shot back down to the ground. He slammed his foot into the nearest frozen Crusade, unleashing a seismic wave that shattered all of the frozen Crusades. But as Arata landed, he quickly took notice of the fact that none of the other Crusades had vanished.

"Nice try, kid," taunted one of the Crusades as they all closed in, "But you missed the right one!" Arata struggled to keep up as he was assaulted once more, but there were just so many of them. Every time he tried to attack, he was struck from his blind spot and staggered, leading to a chain reaction as he stumbled into one attack after the other.

"Arata!" 6 screamed in horror. Arata growled and fought back harder, focusing more on attacking rather than blocking. This worked for a little bit, but it very quickly became clear to him that this was a bad idea. After managing to land a couple of good shots on the Crusades, one of them snuck up from behind and lunged at his lower back. Arata cried out in pain as he was struck, once again staggering forward. All of the Crusades took advantage of this, each one running past him and landing a devastating strike to his chest armor. Sparks flew everywhere as gnarly gashes were left on Arata's armor, with Arata screaming in pain with each blow. One after another they came, holding nothing back as they swung at him. Arata staggered back and back with each passing blow, unable to block with his blade much less counter. It felt like it would never end, but as Arata's feet reflexively moved him forward, he looked up to see one last Crusade come into view. The Crusade roared out as he swung straight down, running his saber straight down from Arata's head, down his torso,

…and straight through his Driver.

Time seemed to stop for everyone watching as Arata staggered back one final step before his Driver fell apart, coming undone from his waist and crumbling into pieces. Arata's legs gave out on him, and he fell to his knees as his armor crumbled away as well. Soon, Arata was lying face down on the ground, his armor completely gone, his Driver left as nothing but rubble and debris, and his Memory clattering onto the ground next to him. Crusade huffed and stepped away, his doubles melting back into his body as he paced around Arata.

"And _that_ ," said Crusade, "is checkmate." Crusade shut off his sabers and stashed them away, returning his gaze to the now horrified crowd of civilians. " _So_ ," he began, "I hope things are _crystal clear_ about your situation now." He motioned a hand towards Arata, who laid motionless on the ground. "THIS is what will happen to everyone who decides to try and resist us. So I _hope_ no one was planning to try and start a rebellion, because NO ONE is going to be able to save you from us. Not even yourselves…" The trapped civilians all looked amongst one another, then back to Arata. Children began to cry, and defeated sobs sounded out from amongst the crowd.

"…You're wrong…" wheezed a weak voice. Crusade perked and looked around, eventually turning around to see Arata glaring at him as he craned his neck up. "You're…y-you're wrong…" Crusade was unable to help himself from laughing as he began to pace around the panther. Arata's voice faltered as he went on. "You guys… _will_ be stopped…one way or another…"

"That's cute," said Crusade mockingly, "You're so optimistic about your belief that you forgot about the situation you're in." He leaned in and motioned at Arata's crumbled Driver. "Did you already forget that you and this city's precious Amnesia are out of the game?" Arata grimaced and looked away from Crusade, his eyes falling upon the remains of his Driver. "Come _on_ now. People like you should know when it's time to submit." Crusade shook his head and began to walk away.

"N-NO!" Arata suddenly shouted, making Crusade stop in his tracks, "I-I can still—" He stopped suddenly as he went into a coughing fit. "…I can still fight!"

" _Can_ you now?" said Crusade, turning around and folding his arms, "Well then! How about you show us all _exactly_ what you plan to do, huh?" Arata stared back at Crusade with his desperation written all over his face. He looked around himself to try and find something, _anything_ that would allow him to fight. He grimaced and tried to push himself back up, only to find that his arms were too weak to support him. He began to hyperventilate, grabbing at the remaining bits of his Driver in a vain attempt to put it back together.

6 cringed before shouting out, "Arata, that's enough! Just stop fighting!" But her words went ignored.

Crusade shook his head. "This is just outright sad." He turned away and gestured with his hand. "Take him away and lock him up. He won't be bothering us anymore." Several Dopants nodded and walked past Crusade. Arata began to breathe harder, baring his teeth as he tried to get away. He grabbed at everything he could get. The strap of his belt, several chunks of his Driver, his Memory—

He shouted out as he was suddenly seized up by the arms. He struggled against their grip, but he barely put up a fight with how little energy he had in him. Regardless, he struggled and struggled, refusing to admit defeat. He looked around frantically, as if he would somehow find the solution he was looking for.

But then it came to him.

He snarled and bit hard into the arm of one of his captors. The Dopant cried out in pain and let go of Arata, allowing him to do the same to the second Dopant. Both of them dropped him which allowed him to frantically crawl away from their grasp. In a desperate attempt to keep them at bay, he threw the broken pieces of his Driver at the Dopants. He just needed a bit of time. It wouldn't take him long. The sudden rush of adrenaline gave him the strength to climb to his feet and stumble backwards, catching the attention of Crusade and making him turn around. The wounded Dopants recovered and started for the panther, only for Crusade to stop them both. He motioned for them to step back as he stepped forward. "What are you doing?" he asked him in a serious tone.

"I've-I've still got ONE thing I can do," Arata shouted with a trembling voice. Crusade narrowed his eyes. The previously determined tone Arata had held was replaced by one of hesitation, of fear, and of desperation. His eyes were wide, and his body language reminded him of an animal backed up against a corner.

"Kid…" said Crusade carefully, "You're making this more difficult on yourself than this needs to be. Just give in already and—"

"NO!" Arata cut him off, his paws trembling and tightly clenched, "I'm NOT letting you win! I-I won't let you put everyone through another day like Day Zero!" Crusade hissed in frustration.

"You've got nothing LEFT KID!" he shouted, "What else could you do that could pose a threat to us?!"

Arata paused, slowly raising one of his clenched paws. "…This." He roared out and raised his clenched paw up, revealing his Memory. He gripped it in both paws before driving it downwards into his forehead, screaming in pain as the Memory slowly sunk into his head. Everyone shouted and screamed in horror as they watched this terrifying spectacle, with Crusade and his Dopants merely watching in disbelief.

Arata screamed and screamed as the Memory sunk deeper. Suddenly, it shot the rest of the way in, and the panther staggered backwards, eventually falling onto his back. He writhed in pain and gripped his head tightly as pain pounded into his skull.

"Arata!" 6 screamed in horror as the panther writhed around in pain.

Large, razor sharp ice shards shot up from the ground around Arata's feet as he himself was rapidly encased within a thick dome of ice, hiding him away and muffling his painful cries. The wind around them began to howl and turn chilly, swirling around the icy dome as it sealed completely. Suddenly, the dome jerked, bulging sporadically as though something inside was ready to burst out. Another bulge, and a crack slithered down the dome. Another bulge, and the crack deepened and splintered. The sounds of screams escaped it, but the screams were no longer of pain. They were of rage, they were of fury, they were of pure hatred. A loud thud sounded from within the dome, and the entire dome shuddered as cracks appeared all over it. The screams grew louder, and the thuds and shudders became more frequent. The ground began to tremor, and the screaming grew in intensity.

Then, all fell silent. The howling winds died out, and the tremors and thuds ceased. All of the Dopants looked amongst each other, but Crusade kept his eyes on the crackled ice dome. He knew it wasn't over. He could still see _it_ inside. Just behind a crack, he could see a single glowing eye, one that stared right back at him. He could feel its anger, its hatred, its thirst for blood.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded out, and the dome was blown into pieces. Huge ice stalagmites shot out of the ground as a hulking monstrosity threw its head to the sky and let out an earth-tremoring roar that knocked nearly everyone off of their feet. 6 stared back in horror at what had taken Arata's place. It was a twisted image of what Zero had been. A crest adorned its head, and a cloak hung off of his shoulders. However, the crest extended down its face to form a slender mask, and its cloak was scarlet red. Its massive gauntlets dwarfed those of Zero, and its boots were equally as massive. Its entire body shook as it continued to scream out its primal roar into the sky, drowning out the howling winds that stung the skin of the onlookers with frigid levels of cold. Arata was no longer in control. Arata was no longer Zero.

Arata was a Dopant.

Crusade stared back solemnly at this monstrosity and reached for his sabers. "Well, kid," he sighed, "I guess I can't say that you were wrong…" He pried his sabers out from his back and switched them on, holding them out to his sides. The monster abruptly stopped its roar and swung its head down and locked gazes with him. Crusade smirked and brandished his beam sabers against each other. "Now then…let's see if you're worth the trouble…" Arata let out a guttural roar as he stomped forward, shaking the ground with every step. He closed in on Crusade and threw a punch, missing as Crusade side-stepped out of the way. Arata roared again and continued to swing at him, growing all the more enraged as Crusade continued to evade his attacks. "Really?!" Crusade taunted, dodging yet another swing, "You put on that big of an entrance, and _this_ is all you have to show for it?!"

Arata roared out in fury. Though he, or rather whatever was left of him, didn't understand Crusade's words, he certainly recognized the tone. He roared out again and swung his arm wildly to the side. Crusade moved to evade, only to grunt as he felt a frigid wave of wind overtake him and freeze him on the spot in a block of ice. Arata roared out again before stepping forward and slamming his fist into Crusade's chest, pummeling him straight out of the ice and sending him flying across the ground. He grunted as he skid to a stop and sprawled out onto the ground. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Arata screamed at the sky as he stomped towards Crusade. He splayed his fingers out and thrust his arms upward, causing several shards of ice to spontaneously form in the air in front of him. He reeled his arms inwards, and the shards rotated so that their pointed ends pointed right at Crusade. With another roar, he thrusted his arms forward and sent the ice shards shooting through the air at Crusade. The armored coyote narrowly avoided them as he jumped out of the way, causing one of them to sail right into the warehouse. It barely managed to impale an unfortunately placed onlooker as it shot through one of the cages. It flew all the way to the other side of the warehouse and impaled itself onto the opposite wall, where a thick shell of ice began to spread from it.

Arata roared again, completely unbothered by the fact that he had nearly killed an innocent bystander. His rage far overpowered his logic. The only thing that mattered to him now was destroying the one threatening his way of life. He stomped towards Crusade at a slow, yet frightening pace and swung his arm again. Crusade tried to leap forward, but his foot was immediately frozen to the ground. Arata roared again and thrust his arms to the sky, once again producing more razor sharp ice shards. Crusade's heart leapt as the ice shards flew towards him. Unable to evade, he summoned several doubles in front of him and used them as meat shields. The shards shot right through them and destroyed them right away, leaving Crusade defenseless once again. The coyote growled as he slammed the butt ends of his sabers into the block of ice trapping his foot, producing more and more doubles as he tried to stall for time.

As they kept Arata occupied, the block of ice gave way and freed Crusade's foot. Crusade leapt back up and ran at Arata, producing as many doubles as he could and surrounding Arata completely with them. Arata roared out in primal fury, and almost all of the Crusades leapt at him with their sabers raised. Arata thrusted his arms out to his sides, and giant ice spikes shot out from the ground and impaled each of the leaping Crusades, destroying them instantly and emptying the field of them. Crusade growled and produced more and more doubles. As he did, several of the observing Dopants shouted out battle cries and ran in to join the fight. Arata roared as they all approached, throwing powerful punches into any opponent that dared get too close to him. Every single opponent that was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the blow was utterly demolished, leaving behind nothing as their bodies combusted from the impact. Arata thrust his arms up again, causing more ice spikes to shoot up from the ground. They came out like a wave and destroyed a huge portion of the oncoming attackers, taking them out all at once. With the field once again emptied, Arata let out another earth-tremoring roar.

"Arata…" said 6 in awe, her jaw practically hanging from her head, "What…have you become?"

A dopant leapt at him from above, only to be grabbed out of the air by his massive hand. Arata stared the Dopant in the eyes as he roared out and crushed it in his hand, destroying it instantly. But as the smoke settled from its explosion, a Crusade leapt in from behind and struck Arata in the back. Arata snarled and staggered, creating an opening for the attackers to exploit. They all rushed in and attacked at once, staggering him again and again and refusing to allow him a single chance to recover. Arata roared out in pain and fury as he was forced to take each and every blow, unable to defend himself from the onslaught. But that didn't matter to him, as defending was the last thing on his primal mind. He roared out again and thrust his arms to the sky, causing another wave of ice spikes to shoot up from the ground. All of the attackers piled around him were immediately destroyed, clearing the field once again and the spikes swept out in another wave. One of the spikes managed to catch one of the Dopants from afar, and as it was destroyed, so too was a large portion that still remained in the warehouse. An unconscious body fell from where the Dopant had been and toppled to the ground. Several of the other Dopants shouted out and quickly filled the area once again, with several of them rushing towards their fallen ally to evacuate him from the battle ground.

Though reduced, their numbers were still great, so they continued their attack. They began to beat Arata down again, as they had found that it was getting easier to catch him from behind. Arata roared and roared as he once again received blow after blow. He tucked his arms close to his chest, and for a moment, it appeared that Arata was about ready to give in. But that illusion was shattered as he thrust his arms out again and produced a cluster of icicles that shot through the air. They pierced through the attackers unlucky enough to be standing in the way, wiping out almost every Dopant that had managed to reach Arata. The icicles kept going and pierced through Dopant after Dopant, even managing to get to several Crusades. Left and right, bodies were falling, and eventually more Dopants standing in the warehouse disappeared with them.

One of the ones holding 6 vanished, and she immediately took that moment of opportunity to free herself from the other. The Dopant was about to run after her, but stopped as Crusade shouted out, "Don't bother! We have bigger problems to deal with here!" Cries of pain filled everyone's ears as another wave of ice spikes swept through the area, clearing the field once more. "In fact, get our prisoners out of here! Release them all! They're no good to us dead!" 6 gasped in shock and whirled around. "What are you waiting for?!" Crusade barked at the Dopants, "Get moving and get them out of here!" The Dopants hastened themselves and got to work, breaking open the doors of each cage and rushing them out. Everyone hurried out as quick as they could, wanting to get as far away as possible from this place. 6 recollected herself before joining in on the efforts, shouting to everyone to try and bring order in the panicked chaos by guiding them away.

As they ran, the other Dopants uttered out battle cries and headed for the rampaging beast. Arata continued to roar out as he destroyed crowd after crowd. Ice shards flew everywhere, with some managing to nick several unfortunate citizens as they ran. This led everyone else still lagging behind to hasten themselves further as they ran for their lives. As 6 guided the furs still getting out of their cages, she glanced back at the raging battle behind her. _What do I do?_ she thought, _What even_ can _I do?_

Arata's primal roar swept up air as he obliterated the Dopants in front of him, clearing the way for him to lock gazes with Crusade. Arata roared again and barreled towards him, however several doubles of him jumped in the way and impeded his progress. Though they proved to be far more formidable than any of the Dopants, they did little to stop him. Within only a few blows, Arata annihilated all of them. The Dopants flooded the area again and tried to overtake him, but another wave of ice spikes made short work of them. Crusade sent more doubles after Arata, sending them in waves of his own so as to slow him down efficiently. And it appeared to be working, as he was beginning to show signs of fatigue. Though his attacks were still devastatingly powerful, they were far slower than before. "Keep at it!" Crusade barked, summoning more doubles, "The boy's about ready to fall!" The Dopants let out battle cries as they rushed in again. Arata roared at them again, though the roar lacked the intensity from before. Crusade's suspicions were further supported; he was burning out. Rather than sounding like a hulking monstrosity, Arata now sounded like an injured predator backed up against a wall.

"URAAA!" Arata roared out as his legs suddenly gave out beneath him, causing him to fall to his hands and knees. The Dopants let out another battle cry as they closed in on him. Arata grunted and growled in pain with each blow as he was mercilessly assaulted. He struggled to try and rise back up to his feet, but he simply didn't have the strength to do so. Sharp snaps sounded out as Arata's body and armor began to crack. With each blow from the Dopants' metal, the cracks spread and branched. Arata's growls and grunts quickly became cries of pain as he took more and more blows. He tried to lash out at the Dopants' feet, but there was still far too many for him to handle. And as the crowd beat on Arata, Crusade turned off one of his sabers and stashed it away.

"You put up a damn good fight, kid," he said, prying his Memory out of his belt, "But it's time that you gave it a rest…" He jammed his Memory into the slot at the bottom of his other saber.

CRUSADE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

The saber shut off momentarily before it began to surge more intensely. Crusade gripped the handle in both paws as the saber raged outward and lengthened to twice its size. "Everyone clear the way!" he shouted at his crew. The Dopants immediately backed away and exposed Arata to the open, who still remained on his hands and knees. He growled and tried to struggle back up. Though it didn't seem like he would be able to get up anytime soon, Crusade decided against taking his chances. He let out a roar as he swung his saber and pulled its trigger, causing the beam to be hurled from the handle and barrel towards the downed Arata. Arata roared in pain as the attack swept through him, demolishing his armor and causing his body to shatter. A large cloud of ice exploded outwards as Crusade's attack went through Arata. Once it settled, Arata's normal body fell to the ground with him knocked out cold. As he hit the ground, his Memory snaked out of his head and clattered onto the ground next to him.

6, who had just finished escorting the last remaining citizen to safety, whirled around to see that Arata had finally fallen. Her heart dropped as her eyes fell upon his unconscious body. She clenched her eyes shut and turned away; she knew there was nothing she could do for him. With bared teeth, she ran off and away from the battle scene.

Crusade panted heavily as he walked over to Arata's side. He eventually reached him and bent down to pick up his Memory, standing up straight and inspecting it closely. He suddenly found himself chuckling. He clenched the Memory tightly in his paw as his chuckles escalated into laughs. Then, with a loud cry, he turned around and thrust the Memory into the air. The Dopants joined him in his cry of victory, thrusting their blades into the air. They did this again and again, letting their loud cries echo through the air for all to hear. And though many had fled the scene, the Dopants' cries fell upon the ears of one individual who had been watching from afar. It was Erika, who was hidden between buildings several blocks away. She struggled to suppress her tears as she watched them all converge on Arata and take him away. Soon enough, he along with Crusade and his Dopants disappeared into the warehouse and from the snow leopard's sight. She closed her eyes and wiped her tears away with her paw as she turned away. And with a heavy heart, she too left the scene.

* * *

1, 6, 2 and Tech all sat silently in their base, grim expressions across all of their faces. No one needed to say anything, as they all knew what was on each other's minds. Despite this, they all knew that something needed to be said. It was 6 that finally decided to break the silence.

"Well…" she began, "at the very least, the Dopants' numbers are down."

"They have our recovery pod, 6," replied 1, "They'll be back to full strength in a matter of hours." 6 lowered her ears and looked down, silencing herself and once again leaving the room uncomfortably quiet. After a few seconds, the silence was broken once again, though not by any of the occupants of the room. Rather, it was Tech's phone ringing from her pocket. She jerked violently in surprise before pulling it out of her pocket and answering the call.

"Hello?" she asked.

"…Tech…" came a familiar voice, "…it's me…"

The fox immediately sat up from her seat and looked to the others. "It's Erika," she announced before turning the call to speaker. "Erika, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm…fine," she answered in a half-hearted tone, "I was able to hide in my old lab after Arata broke us out the first time…"

"That's good," said Tech, breathing a sigh of relief, "I'm glad to hear that you're safe." For a moment, Erika didn't say anything to respond.

"…I saw what happened to Arata…" she finally said. Once again, the room fell to silence. "Do you guys know if he'll be okay?" she asked eagerly.

Everyone looked amongst one another, unsure of how to answer her question. Tech lowered her ears before turning back to the phone and answering, "We're…not sure… None of their captives have been hurt so far but…that's only from what we've seen…" Again, silence hung in the room.

"I think I know how Arata feels now," said Erika, "to watch people you care about and have to abandon them without doing anything… I felt… _terrible_ watching all of that happen to Arata… Watching him struggle so hard to rescue everyone… I wanted to _help_ him but…I felt so _powerless_ …" She suddenly choked, and she didn't say anything for a while. Eventually, she managed to recollect herself and ask, "Are you guys gonna go and rescue him?"

Again, no one knew how to answer her. Eventually Tech spoke up and said, "We're working things out right now. Things are really difficult for us at the moment, and our firepower isn't exactly at its highest point…" Erika didn't respond for a moment. "…Erika?" called Tech.

"…Yes?"

Tech closed her eyes and sighed before continuing. "I'm sure you already know what I'm about to ask you." Erika didn't respond to her statement, so she went on, "Listen, I know you still regret what happened with the Valkyrie… I know you're still scared of something like that happening again… But I don't think I need to tell you how much we need your help right now. We need you. The _city_ needs you. _Arata_ needs you." Still, Erika said nothing in response. "Erika, I've done my best to adjust the Memory we designed. And at this point, I'm almost certain that something like that won't happen again to you. So _please_ …can you help us?"

Erika scrunched her eyes closed as tears began to pour out of them. She pressed her paw over her muzzle as she tried to muffle her cries and hide them from Tech. She knew that she wanted to go and help, but she also knew how much she feared allowing a monster like the Valkyrie run rampant once again. Though she tried her hardest to keep herself quiet, Tech and the others could clearly hear how much turmoil she was in. Just as Tech was about to say something, static began to sound out from one of the radios in the room.

"Team Amnesia, come in," came a voice, "Can you hear us?" 1 quickly left his seat and went over to the radio, picking up the receiver and holding it close to his muzzle.

"This is their commander speaking," he said, "Who is this?"

"This is commander Red of Team Rose," the voice replied, "We are aware of what's going on in your city, and we are now prepared to infiltrate the city and provide assistance." Everyone else in the room sat up in excitement and sighed in relief. As they fought to contain themselves, 1 responded.

"That's good to hear," he began, "Set up a rendezvous point and my team will meet you there."

As he and Red began organizing, Tech switched her call off of speaker and held her phone close to her ear. "Erika?" she said, "It'd be really helpful if you came in too. If you don't think you're up for it, then we understand. Just stay where you are and stay safe. But if you think you can manage to come back in and help, then just make sure that you get to the base safely. Alright?" Tech only heard a slight mumble in response. She sighed and went on, knowing that she wouldn't be getting a response. "I'm hanging up now, alright? Just, whatever you do, be careful… Bye…"

Erika stared blankly at her phone as the call ended. Her other paw still covered her muzzle as she fought to contain herself. She failed to do so and broke down into tears, stuffing her face into her paws. She was still so torn. She was horrified by the idea of the city falling under siege, but _terrified_ of giving the Valkyrie another chance of possessing her. She cried harder as she went back and forth with herself, and curled herself up into a tight ball.

Soon, 1's transmission ended as well, and the room was once again left to silence. Everyone looked amongst one another with knowing looks. 1 was the first one to speak up. "Alright everyone," he began, "rest up. Because in a couple of hours, we need to be ready for a rally." He then turned his gaze over to Tech. "And that _includes you_."

Tech chuffed and smiled at him. "I figured you'd say that."

"We don't exactly have many other options left," said 1. The vixen flicked an ear in amusement.

"It's not like I'm complaining," she said with a shrug, "It's just been a _while_ since I last saddled up. Luckily there should be at least one set of equipment that I can use."

"You think you can handle getting behind the reigns again?" asked 1. Tech smiled at him.

"It's like you said," she replied, "We don't have many other options left."

1 smirked back at her. He then turned his attention over to the others. "We depart at 17:00," he announced, "so by then, be ready to suit up."

* * *

Down the roads leading to Jinsoku, a horde of bikers was racing towards the city. The bikers were all covered in a suit similar to that of Amnesia's troopers, the only difference being the red domes covering their faces. Taking the lead of the group was a rider in crimson red armor, Commander Red.

"Red sir," came a voice through Red's com link, "how long has it been since you last returned to Jinsoku?" The commander smirked beneath his mask and shook his head.

"I've lost count already," he answered his trooper, "All I know is that it's been a while. I don't think I've come by here since Day Zero occurred, when my team and I started out counter-offensive against the rouge Dopant group."

"Do you think we're ready to stop another such event?" asked the same trooper.

"I've trained you all for an event _just_ like this, if not worse," he answered, "I have faith in all of you."

"But do you think _you_ are ready?" asked the trooper. Red smirked at that.

"I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for several years now… I'm not just ready for this… I'm _craving_ this…" Their engines roared through the air as they sped down the road. It didn't take long before Jinsoku itself was within their sights.

"Team Amnesia?" said one of the troopers, "This is Team Rose. We are approaching Jinsoku and will be arriving shortly. Over."

"Roger that," came 1's voice, "We're already at the rendezvous point. We will be waiting for you there. Over."

"Copy that. Over," replied the trooper. As they raced down the road, Red narrowed his eyes.

 _Something's not right_ , he thought, _How have we gotten this far so easily?_ He looked closer and realized that the street itself looked off. Suddenly, his eyes caught on to something in the road. His heart skipped a beat as a realization hit him. "EVERYONE STOP!" he shouted, hitting the brakes on his bike. All of the other troopers followed suit, but as Red quickly discovered, they hit a slick spot covering the road. As a result, their bikes barely even slowed as they slid across the slick surface. And as they slid along, several troopers' bikes exploded into pieces. Red bared his teeth as he managed to spot the land mines covering the road. He swerved and swayed as he tried to weave between them all and avoid hitting them. But as they continued to advance, more and more troopers slid into land mines and were blown away as their bikes exploded into pieces. Eventually, Red managed to bring his to a stop. He let out a sigh of relief and looked back to see how many of his troops were left. After counting them off, he could see that there was barely a dozen or so still standing, with everyone else either too injured to get back up, or just flat out unconscious.

"Dammit," Red cursed under his breath, "those bastards had enough time to set all of this up…" He perked as his ears picked up chanting in the distance. He quickly dismounted his vehicle, and his troopers followed suit. "Everyone get in formation! We've got company!" As his remaining troopers took position, he opened up a compartment in his bike and pulled out a scarlet rose from it. With it in paw, he walked over to the front of his troopers and held his other paw up as they armed themselves. Red lowered his raised paw and reached for his Driver, plucking out the Memory inside. He narrowed his eyes as he began to pick up movement from within the city. He began to tense. _Easy there,_ he thought, _I've prepared for this so long ago already… Now's the time I prove myself…_ He took a deep breath in and eased it out slowly. And with determination burning in his eyes, he slammed his Memory into the slot at his side.

RrrRED: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

With a grunt, he tossed the rose in his paw into the air. Before it could get very far, it burst into a cloud of rose petals that swept around him and his troopers wildly. Red reached his paw out to the side, and rose petals began to gather near it and cluster together. Within a matter of seconds, the rose petals formed a slender rapier that Red gripped tightly and took on a proper fencing stance with. From beyond the rose petals, Red could see a crowd of Dopants emerging from the city and rushing towards them. Red bared his teeth and thrusted his rapier forward before crying out, "CHARGE!" His troopers uttered out battle cries as they all charged forward and opened fire.

The Dopants blocked with their shields as they closed in on the troopers. Within a few moments, the two crowds converged and a large scale skirmish broke out. Swords clashed against armor, and blasts rang out through the sky as the fight raged on. Sparks were flying and mixing with the rose petals that were still swirling around in the air. Red grit his teeth as he fought and struggled. Though his swordsmanship proved to be superior to the Dopants, their sheer numbers were beginning to overpower him. He swung wide and leapt backwards as he held out a paw to the side. A cloud of petals clustered there, and once they condensed, they formed a slender, thorny whip. Red landed on his feet before snapping his whip around to repel the Dopants. He landed several critical strikes on some of them with his rapier, but as expected, more and more doubles formed to make up for the lost ones.

Red hissed through his teeth as his troops went down one by one. The team was struggling to keep it together under such an unrelenting assault. But just as things were beginning to appear dire, several blasts were shot from behind the army of Dopants. Red and his team looked up to see a relieving sight. Team Amnesia had emerged from the city to join in the fight.

"Sorry for the wait, Team Rose," came Tech's voice as they fought, "We're here to provide back up!"

"About time!" Red exclaimed. With a roar, he hurled his rapier at a Dopant and thrust his freed paw out. Petals clustered around it and formed a sturdy saber. Red gripped it tightly as he fought his way through the crowd. With Amnesia attacking from one side and Rose attacking from the other, the fight began to tilt away from a one-sided battle. Eventually, Red reached 1, and the two of them went back to back.

"What are your numbers at right now?" 1 asked, blasting away several Dopants.

"Down to about 9 or 10," Red answered, cracking his whip at several approaching Dopants, "Lost some on the way here."

"Let's retreat and regroup," 1 said, kicking a Dopant back, "We'll strategize for a proper retaliation then."

"Got it," replied Red, "Lead the way." One of 1's fingers went to the side of his helmet.

"Attention all troops!" he exclaimed, "It's time for a tactical retreat! Fall back!"

"But sir! What about the others?!" shouted one of Red's troopers.

"These guys only take hostages!" shouted Tech as she blasted a Dopant, "They'll be fine! We just need to move!" 1 reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a grenade. He pulled the pin and tossed it into the crowd of Dopants. The grenade burst, clearing a way for Red's troopers.

"Let's GO!" Red shouted at them, "GET MOVING!" The troopers did as they were told and rushed for the created opening. As they ran through, everyone took formation with one another. They rushed through Jinsoku's streets, fending off their attackers as best as they could. But even as they kept the initial crowd at bay, more Dopants leapt down from the nearby buildings and joined in on the fight. As they fought, Tech chucked flashbangs at the Dopants, warding them off and disrupting their formations. With their combined efforts, Team Amnesia and Rose managed to get through a good portion of the city. However, they were suddenly cut off from the other side by another crowd of Dopants, and they were forced into a large scale battle.

"KEEP PUSHING THROUGH!" 1 shouted to everyone, "DON'T LET UP ON YOUR ATTACKS!"

* * *

Arata let out a low groan as he slowly came to his senses. His head was pounding, and he was hurting in every conceivable spot of his body. He hissed through his teeth as he tried to move around. He still couldn't see clearly, but he could tell that he had been tied up and restrained. He clenched his eyes closed in an attempt to clear his vision. Little by little, his vision cleared up. Eventually, he was able to make out at least a few shapes. He shifted around a bit and realized that he was tied up against some sort of pillar. His arms and legs were tied against either side of it, preventing him from being able to move around freely. He tried to shout out, but his voice was hoarse and his throat was dry. He cringed and blinked his eyes several times; his vision still remained blurred.

He jerked as he heard the muffled sounds of a voice. He tried to look around for its potential owner, but his vision still provided him with little to work with. His ears perked as the voice came again, this time a little clearer. Arata shook his head, growling as he tried to clear up his senses. Again, he jerked as he felt a paw grab him roughly by his chin and force him to face upwards. "Wakey wakey, kid," came the voice. Arata snarled. He could hear it clearly now, and now he recognized who its owner was. He blinked several times, and as he expected, he was looking into the eyes of a familiar coyote.

Crusade.

Arata bared his teeth at the coyote and struggled against his bonds. Crusade laughed at his fruitless efforts before letting go of his chin and taking a single step back to look down upon him. "So you're finally up," said Crusade in a taunting manner as the panther glared daggers at him, "How're you feeling?"

"Peachy," Arata spat. Crusade chuckled and walked off to the side, escaping Arata's restrained line of sight.

"Are you _sure_ if you're feeling alright?" asked Crusade from wherever he had gone. Arata scoffed.

"And why would _you_ want to know?" he asked, "Why would a person like _you_ be concerned over my wellbeing?"

"Do you not _remember_ what happened to you several hours ago?" Crusade asked, still out of the feline's sight. Arata furrowed a brow, contemplating what exactly he meant by that. But little by little, memories began to return to him. Soon enough, Arata's heart was racing a mile a minute. He frantically swung his head around as he searched around the area for his Driver. His search came to an abrupt stop as Crusade came back into view, waving his Freeze Memory in his paw. Arata's eyes went wide as they locked on to the device. "You remember _now_?" Crusade asked with a toothy grin.

"How did you get my—" Arata stopped himself as more memories returned to him. First his memory of what had happened to his Driver, and then his memory of what had happened to himself. Arata's ears flattened against his head as a feeling of remorse washed over him. In his desperation, he had become what he sought to defeat. He barely even registered Crusade as he went over and took a seat nearby.

"Honestly, you surprised me with that little stunt of yours," he said to him, returning Arata's focus to him, "I never knew how far you were willing to go to protect a bunch of citizens that we had no intention of harming."

This statement seemed to snap Arata right back into his defiant state. "You're KIDDING me, right?!" he shouted, "You think I'd buy that from the people responsible for kidnapping everyone and holding them against their will?!"

"That's _exactly_ what I'm expecting you to think," Crusade snapped, "At least once you cool that hot head of yours."

"You _can't_ be serious," growled Arata, using his gaze to once again glare at Crusade with hatred.

"Oh but I am," Crusade replied, undeterred by Arata's death stare, "Tell me, have you thought about the fact that we're merely keeping everyone in cages? Have you thought about the fact that no one in that warehouse had ever been dealt any harm?"

Arata growled and shook his head in defiance, still not fully able to think straight just yet. "So what about your stupid demonstrations then, huh?! How about explaining THOSE?!"

Crusade broke out into laughter and stepped away, shaking his head. "You think anyone actually got _hurt_ in those?" he asked, making Arata lower his ears. It was then that he realized that he had a point. He had never seen a single injured person when he was inside the warehouse. Arata shook his head defiantly.

"Well, it's not like you couldn't have hurt them when I _wasn't_ there to see." Again, Crusade laughed.

"Well by that logic, _you_ could've hurt them!" He tossed his paws up in the air. "Anything's possible if you keep things vague enough after all." Arata found himself growling.

"I don't have a _motive_ to do such a thing—"

"And who says that _we do_ , huh?" Crusade cut in, "What would we have to gain by hurting our customers?" Arata recoiled suddenly, taken aback by the statement.

"Customers?" he questioned, "What do you mean, 'customers?'"

"I mean exactly that," Crusade said, pointing Arata's Memory at him before pacing around the room again. "You see, kid, my crew and I were contracted to take this city under siege." Crusade gave the panther a sideward glance. "Tell me, does The Earth's Tree ring any bells for you?"

Arata glared at Crusade. "I've had a run in with them once or twice." The coyote smirked at the statement before continuing.

"So then, I'm assuming that you're familiar with their advertising tactics?"

Arata withdrew again. "Advertising?! You call using Dopants to attack citizens and endanger their lives advertising?!"

"Ahhh," said Crusade, pointing a finger up, "But _that's_ where you're wrong, kid. Those Dopants have been doing the _exact_ same thing that my crew and I have been doing. Something that we've been doing ever since we _began_ this attack. All that they've been doing is giving the people a good scare and demonstrating what kind of power the Gaia Memories can give to them." Arata stared back at Crusade speechless. He was having difficulty believing in what he had just heard. "All of these 'attacks' you've seen have been nothing but advertisement campaigns. They're meant to _encourage_ their customers to buy into them is all. It's like an exhibition, a demonstration, demos and the like. _Completely_ harmless."

"MY FRIEND WAS SHOT IN THE LEG!" Arata shouted abruptly, seeming to tremble with anger. Crusade raised a brow at him. A look of confusion went across his features.

"Huh…is that so?" he asked with a genuine tone of confusion, "And…are you sure that it was a deliberate shot to the leg?" Arata was caught off guard by this question. It took him a moment for him to come up with an answer.

"W-well, we were running away from being shot at, so w-why would you even care?! What does it matter to you anyways?!" Crusade shook his head and waved a paw dismissively.

"What matters to me won't matter to you," he replied, "All that matters is that one freak accident won't change the truth. The fact of the matter is that The Earth's Tree isn't out to hurt anyone, and neither is my crew and I." Arata found himself snarling again.

"Tell that to the members of Amnesia who are STILL in the hospital!"

"AH yes, the Muscle attack," Crusade said with a nod, "Those Amnesia folks sure did take a number. But let me remind you; _they_ were the ones that chose to attack, when the only thing Muscle was damaging was property." Crusade leaned in slightly. And one _last_ thing that you seem to forget; nearly _all_ attacks have been led by _customers_. It _is_ a _business_ after all, and _all_ The Earth's Tree does is sell products. _They_ aren't responsible for what their _customers_ do with them." Arata growled at the coyote, though he was unable to come up with anything to respond with. Crusade huffed and stood straight once more. "But I suppose you're right. There is a _bit_ of responsibility to be had. After all, not everyone can come out of this unscathed. No one's perfect after all." He smirked and gave the panther a sideward glance. "Like _you_ for example, when you rammed a purified Memory into yourself to become a rampaging Dopant." Arata merely growled and pressed his lips together.

"So what's your point then?" he spat at Crusade, "Are you just trying to make yourself seem as 'clean' as that company?"

Crusade rolled his eyes. "Well, if you were _listening,_ then you'd know that my crew and I were _contracted_ by them." Arata caught his breath at the mention. Suddenly, a memory came flooding back to him, coming from when Lockon had held him and an unconscious Erika at gunpoint.

"If it weren't for my boss, you and your little friend would be dead," Lockon had shouted, "But your luck's gonna expire on you eventually, because something's coming that I doubt even _you_ can endure."

 _These people,_ Arata thought, _they were what he was referring to!_

"Do you get it _now_?" Crusade went on, " _None_ of this is for real. It's all just a _show_! A big ad campaign to get people interested in buying Memories!"

Arata was beginning to find himself torn, unsure of what to make of this. His distress showed as he struggled to come up with a retort. "Well…why go to such extremes then?!"

"Because it's kind of _hard_ to sell products to people when they don't think they need said products," Crusade retorted. A look of confusion went across Arata's face, and the coyote went on. "Tell me, have you ever thought about the fact that society seems to only want important things when they need them, and _only_ then? Take a look at your own city. Even _after_ the events of Day Zero, there were such _low_ amounts of interest for Memories."

Arata snarled. "Well that's because—"

"Don't tell me," Crusade cut him off, "It's because no one thought they _needed_ them, not with your city's precious _Amnesia_." Crusade openly chuffed at that. "Despite _numerous_ amounts of Dopants running around the world, _and_ the presence of underground sellers in the _city itself_ , no one wanted to buy one for the sake of self-defense." The canine leaned in slightly. "You see, kid, _that_ is why The Earth's Tree is even here in the first place. They're going to give everyone that final, convincing push that will get everyone to start buying them up."

Arata snarled harshly. "I can hardly call that a _convincing_ push. If anything, it's almost FORCEFUL!"

Crusade laughed, "Well _that's_ a little close-minded, don't you think?" He shook his head and went on. "No one is being forced here. Everyone that's being advertised to is still in _total_ control of their own decisions. All The Earth's Tree and my crew are doing is showing them how relevant Memories are to their daily lives. Besides, even _if_ The Earth's Tree were to suddenly stop selling here, it wouldn't cause all of the _other_ Dopants to magically disappear. They'd still be running around, probably _with_ the intent of harming someone." Crusade smiled down at Arata, who was still glaring daggers at him. "Do you see _now?_ All we want to do is _help_ everyone."

As much as Arata hated it, he was finding it harder and harder to not see the coyote's point. It took him a bit to come up with something to say. "Well, if you really _do_ want to help, then why not just give Memories away, or teach everyone how to make them?" Crusade laughed again, this time with much more amusement than before.

"They're a _business_ , kid, not a _charity_. Memories aren't just made from thin air. They require _resources_. Resources cost _money_. If they were to stop selling and just start handing out Memories willy-nilly, then the _company_ would be the one in need of help." Crusade shook his head. "Besides, do you even know how _difficult_ it is to acquire the proper materials for those things? And don't even get me _started_ on the conditions you need to be in."

Arata growled again, still finding difficulty in finding counterarguments. "Well…why go to such extremes?! I still don't understand that!" At that, the pleasant expression that Crusade had been wearing all but disappeared. He frowned and looked off to the side, pursing his lips.

"With society as it is, we _need_ to take things to the extreme," he replied somberly, "Nowadays, people prefer to live in peace and comfort. They choose to ignore the events happening around them. If something happens that doesn't directly involve them, it's all too likely that they won't do anything about it." Crusade turned back to Arata with a serious expression across his features. "We're just making them realize that this _does_ involve them." Arata could only stare back at him; he had been rendered completely speechless at this point. Regardless, Crusade carried on. "Haven't you noticed how everyone does things at the _last minute_? An earthquake happens, and _then_ people buy earthquake insurance. Someone gets robbed, and _then_ they install security features in their house. Someone gets diagnosed with a serious disease, and _then_ they start improving their lives. Again and again, people have to be _shown_ that they need to change their ways, and it's almost always just _before_ or right _after_ something terrible happens…" Crusade shook his head and paced the room as he continued. "I don't expect someone like you to sympathize with what I'm saying. And I don't blame you; this is a pretty dangerous method of advertising. I've already witnessed how out of hand it can get…"

Arata's heart pounded at this. "…W…what do you mean?"

Crusade suddenly stopped in his tracks, keeping his gaze away from Arata as he stood there. Eventually, he broke the silence in the room and asked, "Day Zero…you've heard of it?"

Arata's heart pounded even harder at the question. "Yeah…" he replied reluctantly, "…what about it?" Crusade pursed his lips. It took him a moment before he answered Arata.

"That day…was our first attempt at this type of marketing." At that, Arata's heart all but stopped. His jaw fell agape as the coyote went on. "It was never meant to escalate as much as it did, but things started to go down the drain once the counterattack team came in and started shooting my crew down…" He grimaced and bore his teeth. "Once we started getting hurt, everyone just started acting on their own."

Arata's gaze slowly lowered to the ground and hung his head low. He started to feel a mess of emotions begin to well up inside of him. Anger, hate, confusion, all of it melting together into an unidentifiable mess. "So…you're telling me…that the day that hundreds of people were messed up by…and are STILL trying to get over…the day that lives in infamy here…and the day where several people lost their lives, and others became scarred for life…was nothing…but a STUPID AD CAMPAIGN?!"

Crusade kept his gaze away from Arata's. "…Yes…that's what I'm telling you…"

All of the welled up emotions boiling inside of Arata suddenly burst out all at once. He roared in fury and struggled against his bonds, ignoring the pain as the bonds began to cut into his skin. "I lost TWO FAMILY MEMBERS BECAUSE OF THAT!"

Crusade's expression turned somber. "…I see…"

"You SEE?!" Arata roared hysterically, "THAT'S all you have to say about that?!"

Crusade suddenly snarled and whipped his gaze back over to Arata. "It's NOT like I don't feel GUILT for the things that happened on that day!" he snapped back, "But when change needs to be made at this kind of scale, some sacrifices are bound to be made!"

"SACRIFICES?!" Arata roared, "They are PEOPLE, DAMMIT! They're NOT just resources to be burnt out!"

"I'M THINKING ABOUT THE GREATER GOOD HERE!" Crusade barked. A heavy silence hung between them as they stared each other down. Eventually, Crusade chuffed and shook his head before turning away. "We knew the laws that we were breaking when we attacked the city," he went on, "and we knew the dangers that both us and the city would be going through. My crew and I just live with the knowledge that we will never be thanked for changing the ways of the world, and instead face hatred from the people we were trying to change, and guilt over any blood that was spilled by our hands…" Both furs' perked slightly as they heard a loud bang sound through the walls of the building. Crusade stared at the wall for a moment before pocketing Arata's Memory and walking off. "Sorry, but I'm out of time to chat," he said as he walked out of the room, "It's time that I got back to changing the world…"

* * *

Loud bangs continued to fill the air as the teams Amnesia and Rose fought their way through the city in an effort to reach their safe point. Unfortunately for them, there were far too many Dopants around them that were preventing them from being able to reach said point. Regardless, both teams struggled onwards and tried to push through with their waning stamina.

"Everyone cluster!" shouted Red over the chaos. The team members all followed his order, and in one instance, the rose petals swirling around them all shot outwards and slammed into one another, forming a protective shell around both teams. This granted them a momentary peace, though one that they didn't allow themselves to enjoy. "This thing won't hold for long," Red alerted the others as they all caught their breaths.

"There's _no_ way that we're going to be able to keep going like this," 6 gasped, bracing her paws on her knees.

"We _have_ to keep fighting, 6," said 1, "We're the only ones left now!"

"Well _unless_ Erika decides to fight, our chances of winning this are slim to none," 6 snapped.

"We are the ONLY ones left, 6!" 2 barked at her, "Like it or not, we HAVE to make do." The artic fox then turned her attention to the other members. "Look, we just have to escape for the time being so that we've got higher numbers for _another_ attack, one when we _know_ where that recovery pod is being held."

"Do you _really_ think that we're going to be able to make it through this _barrage_?" 6 questioned.

"6! We HAVE to try!" 2 snapped back. The husky growled harshly and shook her head in distress.

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT," she hissed through her teeth, "Arata's out, Erika's nowhere to be seen, and we're _backed_ up against the wall—"

"6!" Tech cut her off, "Get a grip on yourself and have some more faith in Erika! She's going to join the fight eventually, I just _know_ it! So we just have to hold out until then!"

"And how long will _that_ take to happen?!" 6 snarled. She didn't receive an answer, however, as a sharp crack sounded from the crimson dome protecting them all. Without warning, the entire thing shattered into pieces and Crusade came barging in with both sabers in hand. Everyone hastily scrambled as their cover was literally blown apart and moved back into action. Both teams struggled as they fought against Crusade and his army of Dopants.

 _Come on, Erika,_ Tech prayed as she fought, _Prove me right. We really need you right now!_

* * *

Deep within her hidden bunker, Erika lay curled up in a tight ball on the floor. She could hear the sounds of the ongoing battle coming from outside. Though she herself appeared calm and blank on the outside, her mind was in turmoil. Similar to outside, there was a raging battle going on within her head. To fight or to remain hidden. To allow the city to be taken, or to endanger everyone's lives by giving the Valkyrie another chance to run wild. It was these questions that ran through Erika's mind in every different form and phrasing possible.

 _Tech said that she got the Valkyrie under control,_ she thought, _but she could still be wrong! And if she is, and I go, then there's going to be an even BIGGER problem at hand!_ She growled and rolled over to her other side. _But if I DON'T go, then the city will be taken over easily! But if I go, and I lose control again, then there probably won't even BE a city left!_ The snow leopard snarled in frustration and ran her paws roughly through her head fur. For a brief, merciful moment, her mind went blank, and her self-arguments went silent. She huffed out a breath. _What would Arata do in a time like this?_ She rolled her eyes. _Who am I kidding? He would've been out the door and rushing towards the fight by now, as stupid and reckless as that is…_ Suddenly, she found herself smiling. _Then again, that's just Arata in a nutshell…_ Another moment of silence passed over her. Eventually, she sighed through her nose and uncurled herself, pulling out her phone and dialing Tech's number.

* * *

Back on the battlefield, the two teams still struggled to keep up with Crusade and his seemingly unending onslaught of Dopants and doubles. As they fought, several of Team Rose's troopers were going down and falling to the ground unarmored. As soon as they fell, Dopants swarmed around them and took them away. Eventually, even 1 joined them in the downfall and went down, collapsing to the ground and getting pulled away by the surrounding Dopants. "1!" exclaimed Tech. A loud bang sounded off to the side. She turned to see 6 going down as well, having a similar fate as 1. Tech grit her teeth as she and the remaining troopers tried to fight the army off for as long as they could. They all knew the futility of their efforts, though no one wished to say.

"Keep fighting, everyone!" Red shouted over the chaos, "Don't give up until the very end!" 6 felt the urge to retort, but the ferocity of the battle kept her from doing so. And as the fighting continued, Tech found herself at the receiving end of a call. She glanced down at her display to find that it was Erika who was calling her. After batting several people away and blasting them back with her gun, she hit the answer button on her helmet.

"I'm ready," Erika said, skipping a greeting entirely, "Where can I find my stuff?" Tech audibly cheered upon hearing this.

"In the only usable room left!" Tech shouted back as the Dopants she blasted away came rushing back in at her, "The desk at the far right! It's over there!"

"Got it," she heard Erika reply before the sounds of rustling were heard.

"Be careful!" Tech shouted before getting struck by one of the Dopants' blades, "Urgh, and HURRY!" The call ended at that, and Erika rushed out of her hut as fast as she could. With the call over, Tech raised her head to shout to her fellow troopers. However, just as she turned, she saw 2 fall to the ground, followed by several members of Team Rose. As they all fell, Crusade rose up from the ground with his twin beam sabers held out to his sides menacingly. Tech tensed as their gazes locked together.

 _Gotta hurry,_ Erika chanted as she rushed through the street at a breakneck speed, _gotta hurry gotta hurry gotta hurry…_

Before Crusade got very far, Red jumped in between them and swung at him with his rapier. "You fight me!" he shouted as he snapped his whip forward, striking the ground at Crusade's feet and making him step back. As the two of them fought, Tech struggled against the surrounding Dopants.

Erika screeched to a halt as she reached the edge of the Amnesia facility. As soon as she had a clear path, she ran through all of the remaining rubble and debris littering the area. It didn't take long before she came across the alleged remaining room. She barged into it and frantically looked around, quickly spotting her Memory and Driver.

Shouts were heard as more Rose troopers fell, leaving Red to be the only standing member of his team. Red growled loudly before lunging forward at Crusade, thrusting his rapier and cracking his whip.

Erika rushed over to the table holding her equipment and grabbed them up. She cringed as she looked down at them and took in a deep breath before slapping her Driver onto her waist, causing a silver belt to snake around her form.

"KYIAH!" Red shouted as he slashed at Crusade again, barely managing to scrape his chest armor with the tip of his rapier. Red growled again and cracked his whip again, allowing for enough time to allow a cluster of petals to clamp onto his blade and morph it into a thick saber. As Crusade backed off, Red gripped his new saber and swung it around, knocking away any Dopant that ventured too close. He whirled his whip around as petals came closing in around it. Once they came into contact with it, even sharper and longer thorns decorated the whip. Red cracked it again, and a whole crowd of surrounding Dopants were struck back, leaving only one of the Crusades before him. However, that one Crusade soon became five, and all of them rushed Red at once. Red snarled as he tried to whip them all back. However, their beam sabers proved to be effective against his whip, as the beams sliced clean through the whip. As a result, all of them closed in on Red and attacked, forcing him into a close quarters fight. Though Red fought valiantly, he was no match for the sheer numbers that the Crusades had over him. Eventually, he too fell to the ground defeated.

Tech's heart raced as all eyes fell upon her. She was the only one left. There was no one else to back her up now. She was all alone. All of the Dopants slowly began to close in on her, their swords held out in front of them. Tech snarled and thrust her gun forward, her paws trembling as she switched back and forth between targets to aim at. Crusade chuffed as he watched, turning off one of his beams as he too began to approach.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Crusade's head jerked up as a light erupted from behind him. He whirled around and looked up in time to see several waves of energy rain down upon the battlefield. Crusade acted quickly and leapt out of the way as the waves collided with clusters of Dopants, obliterating them and leaving nothing behind. Explosions swept the area and filled it with dust, disorienting everyone still left standing. Crusade snarled and tried to swipe the dust away from his eyes. Through the dust, he could see a shining figure landing in the middle of the battlefield. Crusade grabbed his other saber and sparked it to life, gripping both tightly as he waited for the dust to clear.

Once it did, the figure rose to its feet and stood before the onlookers. She was dressed in white armor with a yellow under suit, with golden "wings" decorating her helmet. In her hand, she held a slender long-sword, and behind her, a pair of glowing yellow wings were spread out wide. At this point, Crusade had no doubt in his mind as to who this was. He huffed with a smirk, switching off his sabers before folding his arms. " _So,_ " he began, " _You're_ the one I was warned about. It's nice of you to finally make an appearance, Valkyrie."

The Valkyrie whirled around and took on a stiff stance, gripping her blade in both hands and aiming it at him. She snarled and her wings vanished as her gaze shifted back and forth between him and the Dopants surrounding her. Though unnoticed by her adversaries, her heart was pounding in her chest. _Looks like I'm going to have to learn how to fight…on the spot…_ Erika thought, keeping a tight grip on her blade.

"Of course," Crusade went on, "it's only _natural_ to be cautious around a bloodthirst killer."

Erika noticeably flinched as the memory of her unfortunate victim came flooding back in. The grip on her blade slackened as renewed grief came over her. However, she shook her head firmly and composed herself, once again gripping her blade properly as she fixed her stance and replied, "I'm not going to deny what happened, and I won't that there are debts that need to be paid. So until the time comes that I turn myself in, I'll correct my wrongs by protecting the city!"

Crusade chuffed and raised a paw up, motioning to the Dopants still surrounding Tech. "Take her out of here," he commanded them, "and the rest of you, focus on the Valkyrie. She takes top priority…" Tech's grunts and growls of defiance sounded through the air as she was taken away. Once she was gone, all of the remaining Dopants charged at Erika at once. Erika's heart throbbed as they all came at her. She hastily slashed out at as many as she could. And though she managed to land a hit on some, all of the rest came in from behind and landed several strikes to her body. Erika cried out in pain as she took the blows and whirled around to strike back, struggling to keep up with the sheer amount of attacks coming at her at once. Off to the side, Crusade laughed with amusement.

"Is _this_ the supposed Valkyrie we were supposed to be worried about?" he taunted, keeping his sabers shut off as he watched from afar.

Erika began to panic; she was beginning to realize how in over her head she was. She continued to struggle against the horde of Dopants and reached down to the sundial on her belt.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a roar, she swung her blade upwards and hurled an energy wave through the crowd. The wave destroyed the cluster of Dopants that were unable to get away from it, leaving a wide opening in the crowd in front of her. Erika's heart leapt upon seeing her success, but it sunk back down as more and more doubles of Dopants materialized and filled up the newly open space. Just like that, the fight resumed as though nothing had happened. _Is this it?_ Erika thought, _Is this how I die?_

 _Why would you fear death at such a time as this?_ Erika faltered; that hadn't been her own thoughts. Someone else was talking in her head.

 _Wait a minute,_ she replied, _…you're the Valkyrie, aren't you?!_ Erika cried out suddenly as she was struck sharply across the back. She snarled and cast her arms out, causing her wings to spread out and blow the surrounding Dopants back. With a clap of her wings, Erika took to the air and flew down the street. All of the Dopants shouted out as they chased after her. _Why are you in my head?! What do you want?!_

 _I've been observing your behavior for quite some time now,_ the Valkyrie replied, _and your hesitation in fighting confuses me._

Erika's heart leapt. _You've been…watching me?!_

 _Ever since you took back control over your own body, yes,_ she answered the snow leopard, _and though there are slew of other questions I wish to ask you, the one that I first proposed piques my interest. So do tell me, why is it that you fear death?_

Erika cried out in surprise as a Dopant suddenly leapt up and grabbed onto her foot. With the added weight, she was brought down to the ground skidding. She slashed down and knocked the Dopant away as she scrambled back up to her feet. Once she was up, she was thrust into another close quarters battle. _I don't wanna die yet!_ Erika answered her, knocking several Dopants away before taking to the sky once again.

 _But why not?_ Valkyrie asked, _If you die in battle, that is a sure passage into the Halls of Valhalla._ Erika growled as she slashed several mid-air Dopants out of her way.

 _Because there are still things I want to do in this life!_ she replied, _I want to see myself become successful! I want to see my friends live, happy,_ normal _lives! And I want to see a world where no one lives under the oppression of fear!_

 _You've given me goals,_ said Valkyrie, _but not reasons. What's more, I feel the fear in your heart. Why? What is it that you have to fear?_ Erika remained silent, unsure of how to answer the question. She cried out again as several Dopants jumped onto her back and brought her crashing down. After struggling back to her feet, she was thrust back into square one. _Those who die in battle fleeing from their enemies aren't allowed passage into the Halls. Tell me, do you wish to fight?_

"I do!" Erika grunted aloud as she blocked an incoming strike.

 _And you wish to see all of your goals come into fruition, yes?_ Valkyrie asked again.

"Yes!" Erika growled back, groaning as she was suddenly pinned up against a wall.

 _Then you should stop fearing death and FIGHT!_ Valkyrie shouted, _Prove to the Gods that you are courageous! Show them how a great warrior fights a glorious battle!_

Erika struggled against the strength of the Dopants. Though she wasn't entirely sure of what Valkyrie was trying to do, she knew that what she was saying wasn't wrong. She wanted to see all of her goals accomplished, and to do that, she would have to fight, as Valkyrie said. With a battle roar, she thrust her wings out and knocked the Dopants away, spreading them widely as she took on a firm stance.

"Fine then! I'll fight!" Erika shouted, "And I'll fight as a Kamen Rider! As Kamen Rider VALKYRIE!" Though there was no way to tell, Erika somehow felt Valkyrie smile.

 _Watch out behind you!_ she suddenly shouted. Erika whirled around in time to see a Dopant jumping at her. She reacted quickly and slashed him out of the air before he could reach her. _Two to your right!_ Erika turned again and saw two more Dopants coming in. With swift swings, she knocked the incoming Dopants away from her. _Behind you!_ Erika turned around, however she was unable to prevent herself from being struck this time. She staggered back several steps before striking the Dopant back with an upwards slash. The Dopant stumbled back and crashed into several of his allies. Despite the situation, Erika found herself smiling beneath her mask. _Do not celebrate just yet,_ came Valkyrie's voice. Erika turned around and saw what she meant; a large quantity of the Dopants she had left behind were now catching up to her. Tensing up, she gripped her blade tightly and took on a stiff stance. _No more fear,_ scolded Valkyrie, _There is no time for that. Just move forward!_ With a bit of hesitancy, Erika nodded and reached down for the sundial on her belt. She flicked it with one quick motion.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a loud cry, Erika swung her blade upwards and hurled a wave of energy at the incoming crowd. The wave swept through it and obliterated several of the Dopants. Erika then let out a battle cry and rushed forward, spreading her wings as she ran. Soon enough, she closed the gap between herself and the oncoming crowd. She rammed through the crowd with viscous aggression, doing notably well despite being so outnumbered. And this fact was getting to the Dopants, as knowledge of this made them sloppier and reckless.

And Valkyrie noticed.

 _They are growing fearful!_ she told Erika, _Keep going! Show them your warrior spirit!_ Erika roared out again and flicked the dial on her belt.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

She hurled another energy wave out and eliminated a huge portion of the crowd. It didn't take long for the lost numbers to be recovered, however the same couldn't be said about the Dopants' morale.

"KEEP FIGHTING!" Crusade's voice came from above. Everyone looked up to see Crusade standing atop the roof of a nearby building. He jumped down from it and landed in a crouch a few meters in front of Erika. He slowly stood back up and drew out his saber handles from his back. He whipped both of them forward as he pulled their triggers, sparking them to life. Erika growled as a memory came flooding back to her. Crusade had been the one that had taken Arata down, both as Zero _and_ as that monstrosity of a Dopant he had become.

And now she was fighting him.

"Don't hesitate at all," he said to his crew, "Keep fighting and wear her down." Suddenly, doubles of Crusade hopped down from the rooftops around them all and surrounded Erika, each of them bearing both beam sabers. Erika quickly took on a stance and carefully scanned the area with a racing heart. Crusade chuffed, "Hmph. I was wondering where your supposedly frightening skills had gone. I'm not disappointed…" He scraped his sabers against each other as he and his doubles began to walk forward. "Now let's see how we fare against each other…" With a roar, the Crusades all picked up the pace. Erika's heart throbbed as they all came running at her at once. She lashed out at the closest one and knocked it away.

 _Three behind you!_ Erika whirled around and knocked all three of them away with a single swing. _One rear and one above!_ Erika turned and tried to judge which would close in sooner. However it took her too long and was struck by the one in the air as a result. As she staggered, she batted them both away with her blade. _All sides but the front!_ Erika snarled and swung her blade wildly, once again knocking the entire incoming crowd away with a single swing. _One from the re—_ Valkyrie was unable to finish, as the Crusade closed in on Erika before she could. Erika cried out and stumbled forward from the blow, creating a window of opportunity for the Crusades to exploit. They all struck at her wildly, leaving her no time to recover in between blows. Erika panicked and slashed at them all wildly as she tried to regain her footing. _Do not panic!_ Valkyrie shouted, _Remain calm and retaliate!_

 _I'm-gonna-die-I'm-gonna-die-I'm-gonna-die,_ Erika repeated to herself as she struggled and staggered around.

 _Do not fear death!_ Valkyrie shouted again, _A glorious mercy will befall you if you die in battle. However, you said yourself that you do not wish to die yet. If this is still true, then focus on fighting back!_

A sudden sense of clarity washed through Erika's head as she was told this. In that single instance, she was reminded of what she was fighting for in the first place. And with that in mind, she spread her wings and knocked all of her attackers away, allowing her to take to the air and pry the Memory out of her Driver. Then in one swift motion, she tossed it into the handle of her blade and twisted it into place.

^^^ ASCENDING SLASH! ^^^

With a guttural battle roar, she swung her blade and performed a mid-air spin. Her swing sent out a devastatingly powerful energy wave that aligned perfectly with the street below. The wave slammed down upon the crowd below and obliterated them all at once in a blinding flash of light. Once the light faded, three unconscious bodies fell onto the ground with their Memories snaking out of their bodies and bursting into pieces. The Dopants that had been quick enough to dive to the side all stared in dumbstruck awe, only to rapidly increase their depleted numbers at a hasty pace. Up in the air, Erika mentally celebrated the victory she had achieved. Not only had she severely reduced their numbers, but she had also done it without endangering the lives of those she had attacked.

The real Crusade groaned as he picked himself off of the ground, having dove into a nearby alleyway to avoid the devastating attack. His heart skipped a beat as he looked on at the damage Erika had dealt upon his crew. _What…exactly are we dealing with here?_ he thought with dread. Once he was back up, the Dopants had completed their duplications, filling up the area with as many Dopants as they could muster. Crusade snarled and shook his head as he ran back out into the streets and shouted, "Everyone retreat!" His crew looked back at him in shock, but he continued on regardless. "Leave the Valkyrie to me!"

"But sir, what about—"

"That was a DIRECT ORDER!" Crusade snapped, leaving no room for discussion, "Take our wounded and GET OUT OF HERE!" With unmistakable reluctance, the Dopants followed his orders and filed out, taking the unconscious furs with them. As they left, Crusade looked up at Erika as she slowly descended from the sky and landed before him.

 _He's…sending away his army,_ Erika thought, _is it because he's just that confident in himself, or is it because he's concerned about them?_ Erika wasn't left with any more time to ponder this question, as Crusade rushed at her with a total of 11 doubles backing him up.

 _Two on your left!_ Valkyrie called. Erika reacted appropriately and did her best to repel the two attackers. _Three on the right!_ Again, Erika reacted accordingly and countered to the best of her ability. She continued to fight in this manner, with Valkyrie continuing to call out where attacks were coming from. And though she received a hefty amount of blows, Erika fought adequately well even with the number disadvantage. As the fight went on, she took down double after double. But each time she took one down, another came running out to join the fight. However, with each coming double, Erika began to notice a pattern. Whenever a new one would join the fray, they would always come running out from the same direction. With this in mind, Erika became more aggressive with her attacks and began to fight her way towards where the doubles appeared to be coming from.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Erika hurled an energy wave and took out a good chunk of the doubles, granting her the opening she needed to rush into the alleyway she had set her sights on. As soon as she made it in, her eyes fell upon Crusade. The _real_ Crusade. Doubles suddenly came flooding out of him and attacked her, but Erika fought her way through them and closed in on the real Crusade. Now forced to fight, Crusade triggered his sabers and fought back, clashing their blades together and sending sparks flying everywhere. The two of them went back and forth, with both combatants managing to land numerous hits on the other. And though Erika's strikes hit the hardest, Crusade managed to land more hits overall with both his experience and aid from his doubles giving him the advantage.

But this didn't discourage Erika. Not by one bit. She had already come so far and wasn't ready to end things here. With another roar, she reached down and flicked the dial on her Driver.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

She swung upwards and sent out another energy wave, one that swept through Crusade and staggered him. Erika used that brief moment of opportunity to rush him with everything that she had. Sparks flew off of Crusade's body as Erika's blade struck him again and again. He struggled to fight back, but her attacks were simply too much for him. His doubles rushed in to help, but with Valkyrie at Erika's aid, they were kept at bay.

A well-timed strike suddenly knocked Crusade onto his back. Realizing the opportunity she was given, Erika tore the Memory out of her Driver and plunged it into her blade, twisting it in and locking it in place.

^^^ ASCENDING SLASH! ^^^

With an echoing battle roar, Erika reeled back and swung upwards, hurling a devastating energy way down the alleyway. Crusade cried out as he was swept up by it. It tore down the alleyway before emerging from the buildings and hurling Crusade onto a wall. The impact caused his armor to shatter away, leaving him in nothing but his regular clothes as he fell back down to the pavement. He growled and cushioned his shoulder with a paw as he struggled back up. Then, coming out from the buildings, several Dopants came running to his side to help him up. "Retreat," he coughed, gritting his teeth and glaring Erika down as she stood before him. The Dopants didn't waste time in following his orders and hurried him away, disappearing amongst the buildings they had come from.

"Get BACK here!" Erika snarled as she ran to pursue them. However, as she took her first step, her armor shattered away as well and blew away in a gust of wind. Erika stumbled momentarily before regaining her balance. She clicked her tongue in frustration; she couldn't fight them like this… With a slight snarl, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Tech's number. "Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up…" Erika chanted silently. And to her luck, the call was answered. Excitedly, she put the phone to her ear. "Oh my god-Tech! Are you alright? Where is everyone else?"

"I'm fine," Tech answered her, causing a wave of relief to wash over the feline, "A bit bruised but otherwise alright, but I have no clue where the others are. All of the Dopants holding me disappeared before they could lock me away."

Erika let out a slight sigh. "Well, at least you're alright…" She trailed off as she took notice of something. Squinting her eyes, she lowered her phone slightly and began to approach a small device on the ground. As she grew closer, she began to recognize what it was. With a gasp, she rushed over to the device and snatched it up from the ground. She brought it up to her face, confirming it to be Arata's Freeze Memory. _Crusade must have dropped it after that last attack…_ she thought, clutching the Memory tightly, _That's right…they're still holding him hostage…_

"Hello? Erika?" Tech called. Erika brought her phone back up to her ear.

"Yeah, I'm here," she answered, "Meet me at the first street we were on. We'll talk things out there."

* * *

Crusade's crew struggled to keep him up as he stumbled into the building. They all helped him up as they approached the stolen recovery pod. As they approached, it popped open and a crew member hastily vacated it. With the pod now empty, the crew members aided Crusade in getting into it. Once he was in, Crusade slumped back and panted heavily. He grimaced as he felt his suppressed pains begin to flare up. "…You guys alright?" Crusade asked between pants.

"Couple of bruises, but nothing too bad," a crew member answered him. Crusade smirked at that and laid his head back.

"Good…good…" he nodded in satisfaction, "…Our job's almost done, guys… Don't worry…" A slight ring was heard as the pod signaled that its cooldown was complete. With a hiss, the pod's door closed, and the pod itself began to hum as the healing process began. "Almost done…" Crusade said to himself more than anything, "…Almost…"

* * *

Not too long after, Erika and Tech were walking at a hurried pace down the street, with Erika clutching the Freeze Memory tightly in her paw. Tech followed after her still wearing her armor. "Erika," she called, "I understand how much you want to save Arata, but we _really should_ go back and plan for now."

" _Now_?" she asked the vixen without as much as a backwards glance, "Don't you want to save the team as well? Besides, there's strength in numbers."

"I do, don't get me wrong," Tech replied, snapping her gaze from side to side to scan the area, "but going out now to try and save them would be reckless. Sure, you're here now, and you're most certainly our best chance at winning this, but your Memory's recharging. Attacking the Dopants now would be _dangerous_."

"Crusade was hurt to the point that he had to retreat!" Erika snapped, still refusing to look anywhere but forward, "If we wait too long, him and all of his other allies will be back on their feet before we can attack. It's _now_ or _never_ , Tech."

"Okay, I get your mentality," Tech began, "It's a good plan. But just let _me_ rescue them on my own. You stay hidden and out of danger."

Erika stubbornly shook her head. "There's no way that you'd be able to handle them all alone. Besides, _I_ want to be the one to save Arata this time…"

"…This time?" Tech muttered under her breath. Whether or not Erika had heard her, she couldn't tell, for she kept walking down the road with determination in her eyes. Tech let out a sigh. "Do you even know where you're going?"

"I saw them running back towards that warehouse they were holding everyone in," Erika replied, "It's a good place to start at least."

Tech shook her head. "Just get behind me as soon as any conflict starts, alright?" Erika nodded absentmindedly in response. "How long do you think it will take for your Memory to recharge?"

"From what I remember from the time that the Valkyrie was still in control," Erika began, "it should probably take a good half hour or so." Tech huffed with tension and tightened the grip on her gun. "We have to do this _now,_ Tech. We're probably not gonna get another chance like this."

"I understand…" Tech replied, refraining from adding anything else.

 _Just you wait, Arata,_ Erika thought, _We're coming to get you…_ Within a matter of minutes, the two of them came across the alleged warehouse. Tech hastily rushed the two of them to the side as she noticed a pair of Dopants standing guard. Now crouched down on the ground, Tech looked around and mapped out the area in her head. After devising several different paths, she motioned with her paw for Erika to follow her. They snuck around quietly, hiding behind every box and barrel they could find. Thankfully they managed to find a way in from the side; a crumbled opening in the wall left behind by Arata's rampage. Tech crawled through before carefully scanning the area. Though she had never seen it personally, she could tell that the place was far emptier than before. Empty cages were all around, broken up by only a few filled cages. Looking around further, she also noticed how little many Dopants were standing guard. Tech motioned for Erika to follow again before the two of them silently slipped by and hurried into a hallway leading to a connected building.

* * *

Arata stared blankly at his lap as he sat on the ground, still unable to move due to his restraints. No thoughts ran through his head; he had exhausted his mind after pondering Crusade's words. Suddenly, his ears perked as they caught on to the sounds of the door opening. Footsteps filled the air as he looked up, expecting to see Crusade marching in with a triumphant look across his face. But his eyes lit up as he saw who it actually was.

"Arata! !" Erika exclaimed as she rushed over to him. A wave of relief and joy washed over Arata as the snow leopard embraced him tightly, wrapping her arms around him and stuffing her muzzle into his neck. "Thank god, we finally found you!" As she cried into him, Tech stood by the door and remained on the lookout. Erika suddenly broke away and thoroughly inspected him, asking, "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"I…I'm fine," Arata answered, having difficulty finding his voice. He looked around as Erika got work on undoing his bonds. "W-where is everyone else? Are they alright?"

"Don't worry about them right now," said Tech, catching Arata off guard as he heard her voice come out from beneath her armored body, "For now, we need to get out of here before anyone notices."

Erika made quick work of Arata's bonds. Soon enough, the trio was carefully rushing down the hallway. They slowed their pace as they neared the exit. With Tech once again taking the lead, they all crouched and crawled their way around the warehouse. Tech halted their progress to allow a Dopant walk past them before hurrying the two felines along. However, as they hurried towards the exit, Arata tripped over something in his haste and hit the ground with a loud thud. The thud echoed through the warehouse, and all of the Dopants around to hear it whirled around to face them.

"RUN!" Tech shouted as the Dopants scrambled towards them. Erika kicked open the door to the warehouse and Arata tackled down the Dopant standing guard. They continued to run with Tech tailing the two of them as she shot at the pursuing Dopants to hold them at bay. Though try as she might, the Dopants just kept coming, and the trio was rallied into a more open area of the city. With nowhere left to run, the three of them were forced into a fight, with all of the Dopants rushing in to try and subdue them. As Tech continued to fire at the army, Erika managed to disarm one of the Dopants of their swords and used it to knock several of them back. As one fell, she grabbed its sword and shouted to Arata before tossing it to him. Arata managed to catch it and slash at the attacking Dopants. Though they all fought valiantly, all they were managing to do was keep the Dopants at bay. But as the fight went on, it was getting more and more difficult to stay together as a group. Eventually, everyone was separated from one another and was forced to fight all on their own. The fight continued to rage on, with the Dopants growing more and more aggressive with their assault. But when the sounds of the Dopant alarm began to fill the air, everything came to a sudden halt. Everyone looked around, confused as to how and why such an alarm would go off. It wasn't until a familiar voice came through the city's PA system was that made clear.

"Hello everyone," came Crusade's voice, "if I could just direct everyone's attention to the broadcasting system. I have re-enabled it, therefore it should be accessible to everyone once again." Arata fought the urge to check for himself, as he felt that taking his eyes off of the battle field would be an unwise decision. "I _highly_ encourage everyone that can to do so. _Trust me_. This isn't something you're going to wanna miss…" Though the trio did not take him up on his advice, the rest of the city went through and checked their devices, confirming that Crusade did in fact re-enable the broadcasting system. As their screens turned on, they saw the battlefield where Erika, Tech and Arata were standing, surrounded by the army of Dopants. "For those of you who were smart enough to check, what you're looking at is the last shred of rebellion your Memoryless city has to offer; the last standing member of Amnesia, along with two unarmed hard-heads." The Dopants surrounding the trio quickly caught on to what Crusade was doing and began brandishing their blades in an act of intimidation. The trio quickly caught on as well, with all of them realizing that their actions were now being broadcasted live to the city, and possibly the world. "You should all take a _good_ look at this," Crusade went on, "because this is gonna be the _last_ glance of an uprising that comes from you people."

 _Dammit,_ Arata thought, _He's not just trying to scare everybody. He's also putting me and Erika on the spot. If we try to do anything now, the whole_ city _will know who we are…_

"Of course, we'd like to offer the easy way out," said Crusade in a mocking tone, "so to the three of you who are still standing in defiance of us, we're offering you this one chance to surrender. And keep in mind, this is your LAST chance at mercy…" The Dopants around them all began to slowly approach them. "Your call…"

Erika, Arata and Tech looked to one another. It was already clear how much of a disadvantage they were at. Erika and Arata looked to Tech, and she slowly nodded to the two of them. Slowly lowering her paw, she reached for her Driver and pried it off of her, disengaging her transformation as she held the device up along with her other paw. The two felines gasped in shock over her surrender. With the shred of defiance still in them, it took a moment before they too raised their paws up in the air.

"Heh, good choice," said Crusade as the Dopants began to close in. Arata looked to Tech again, still shocked that she was willing to give in so easily. However, the vixen looked back at him and locked their gazes together. She held his gaze for a moment and nodded to him. It was at that point did Arata's eyes widen in realization. He looked to Erika to see that she too had realized what was going on.

After all, people didn't smile in the face of defeat.

"Hey Arata," she called to him, "do you remember the little speech you gave me when I was under control of the Valkyrie?" As the Dopants began to close in, Tech dislodged her Memory from the Driver and held the device tightly. "I heard it all, y'know," Erika went on, "even your little transformation phrase…" She then took her gaze away from Arata and reached into her pocket. "And I think now's a better time than ever to try it out for myself…"

The Dopants closed in and reached out to take the felines in. However, with loud roars, the two of them kicked them all back and fended them off.

"HEADS UP!" Tech shouted before hurling her Driver at Arata. As soon as it was in the air, the Dopants made a mad scramble to attack. Arata exclaimed before leaping in the air and narrowly catching the Driver. Once he landed, he slapped the device onto his waist, allowing the silver belt to snake out from it and latch the Driver onto himself. As he continued to fight the Dopants off, Tech shouted out as she was finally taken away herself. The scene grew even more chaotic as more Dopants leapt from the rooftops to join in.

"ARATA!" Erika shouted before she tossed Arata's Memory with her left paw. However, a Dopant managed to swipe it out of the air before Arata could manage to catch it with his right paw. Arata snarled and tried to fight his way through the crowd, dodging and blocking swing after deadly swing. Before he could reach the Dopant holding his Memory, the Dopant hurled the device towards another one in the crowd. But Erika acted quickly and hurled the sword she had taken at the flying Memory, knocking it out of the air and sending it back at Arata. The panther caught the device and immediately slammed it into the slot of his Driver. Meanwhile, Erika pried her Memory out of her Driver and re-plugged it in, battering her way through the crowd to stand side by side with Arata. Then, with their paws swiftly enacting upon their devices, the two of them shouted out in one unified cry,

"HENSHIN!"

A wild blizzard erupted outwards and swallowed up the entire block. The strength of the winds knocked several Dopants right off of their feet and prevented them from getting back up. The ones that still stood were blinded as a bright light flared to life in the middle of the freak snowstorm.

FREEZE!

ASCEND!

Then, with a loud and thunderous clap, the blizzard was cast away from the block. With it gone, the snow was able to fall away to reveal the two Riders standing side by side. As Arata's cloak fluttered in the wind, Erika spread her wings out behind her and illuminated the area with a brilliant light. As the fallen Dopants pulled themselves back up to their feet, they stared with awe at the spectacle. Before them stood the last remaining guardians of the city, the last line of defense against them.

The Kamen Riders.

With Erika summoning her sword and Arata drawing his out from his side, the two of them plunged into battle as one. The Dopants all attacked at once to meet their challenge, allowing the fierce battle to go underway. And though their numbers were great, the two of them fought back valiantly. With the two of them backing each other up, Erika and Arata were almost untouchable to the Dopants. Even as they continued to regenerate their numbers with each fallen double, the two Riders fought on with vigor. All the while, people all around were peeking their heads out from their hiding spots to catch a glimpse of the raging battle.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

Erika took her paw off of her dial to grip her blade in both, allowing her to swing hard and hurl a wave of energy at a crowd of Dopants, taking them out in one fell swoop.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Arata gripped his blade tightly as he made a wide swing with it, blasting the Dopants in front of them with a wave of ice and freezing them all in place. He jumped back to allow Erika to come in and take them all down one by one.

 _Erika!_ came Valkyrie's voice, _Look in the distance! There are several adversaries that are remaining on the sidelines and merely observing the battle! Those must be the original ones!_ Erika looked and saw that she was right. She quickly reached down and flicked the dial on her belt once more.

ASCENDING DRIVE!

With a grunt, she swung upwards and hurled another wave down the street, taking down the Dopants standing in the way. However, this gave Erika's targets enough time to jump to safety and avoid the attack. Erika growled and sent more waves out, intent on further reducing the Dopants' numbers. Her efforts eventually proved successful, as one of the targeted Dopants was taken down and a whole section of Dopants vanished from the battlefield. Erika and Arata cried out in triumph and fought on, fueled on by their most recent victory. More and more this happened, and each time it did, the two of them grew more and more encouraged. The same held true for the onlookers, as with each fallen Dopant cluster, more and more people were peeking their heads out. However, as Arata braced himself to take on the next batch of Dopants, his heart leapt as he saw dark silhouettes leap off of the rooftops to join the fight. Arata froze in his tracks as a Crusade locked gazes with him.

"Well, well, well," Crusade laughed, "Even after I told you about what's going on, you _still_ decide to fight against us, huh? What, did you just completely disregard our point of view in favor of your own then?"

Arata growled and took on a stance, tightening the grip on his blade. "I've had a _lot_ of time to think about what you said," he began, "and I _still_ can't find myself agreeing with it."

Crusade huffed and shrugged his shoulders as he drew out his sabers from his back. "Well, I guess I can't be too surprised. After all, I can't expect everyone to agree with our WAYS!" Crusade suddenly rushed forward, joined by his doubles, and attacked the two Riders head on. Blades clashed and sparks flew as the fight raged on, with neither side letting up. As Crusade pressed on harder, the Riders' struggles grew more and more difficult. Regardless, they fought back with all of their might, with Erika continuing to reduce the Dopants' numbers with every fallen original. However, the two of them began to near the limits of their capabilities, and soon Crusade gained the upper hand. Him and his doubles managed to land strike after strike on each of the Riders. And with firm and well placed swings, both of them were struck down to their knees. Collapsing over their own weight, the two Riders fell face first onto the pavement, panting heavily from exhaustion. Once they fell, Crusade and his Dopants let out rallying cries of victory. The spectators all looked on in horror at the sight of their fallen heroes. The two Riders struggled to get back up to their feet, but unfortunately their bodies wouldn't allow it. Huffing in satisfaction, Crusade tossed his paws up in the air and turned to the nearest camera.

"SO!" he shouted, "Do you all see NOW?! Your precious 'Riders' have fallen! Even with the both of them working together, they were POWERLESS against us! WE were the ones with the stronger Memories! Because of that, we CANNOT be stopped!" The spectators all began to retreat back into their hiding places, feeling dread and fear wash over them as Crusade went on. "If you haven't given up hope yet, I commend you for your faith. But I'm sure MANY of you realize by now how hopeless the situation is!" Arata snarled harshly and tried once more to get back up to his feet. But his body quickly reminded him of why he couldn't stand. As a result, he collapsed back down and laid face down on the ground once more. Noticing this, Crusade tossed his paw towards the panther. "You see?! He can't even so much as _stand!_ Let alone _fight!_ So once again, to all you faithful viewers out there, if you _still_ believe that there's even an _ounce_ of hope left for you…you're wrong. It's. Over. Your heroes have fallen, your Amnesia is out of commission, and you can _bet_ that we will be able to deal with any other Team that is thrown our way…"

A heavy silence passed over the city. The gravity of Crusade's words was finally beginning to settle in on the spectators. He was right; there was no one left to protect them. The last glimpse of hope had been held by the Riders, and even _they_ had fallen to the hands of Crusade and his army of Dopants. That was it. It was over. The city was theirs. They had won…

"NO!" a young voice suddenly cried out, echoing over the battlefield. Crusade and his Dopants looked around in confusion. "The Kamen Riders can still WIN!" Arata perked his head abruptly; he recognized this voice. It belonged to the boy that he had rescued during one of his first days as Zero. "COME ON, ZERO!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs, "GET UP! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Crusade growled and began to approach the building that he could hear the boy's voice from. However, he stopped in his tracks as another voice joined the boy in his outcries. "YEAH! GET BACK UP!" the voice yelled out, "YOU GUYS 'VE GOT EM ON THE ROPES!" Soon, more voices joined in, creating a crescendo of cheers and shouts of encouragement. Crusade and his Dopants looked around as people began to emerge fully from their hiding spots, standing tall and proud as they shouted their support to their fallen Riders. Crusade and his crew stared in astonishment as all of the fear and doubt that had covered the city like a blanket was cast away in one fell swoop. "RIDERS! RIDERS! RIDERS! RIDERS!" the crowd began to chant, pumping their fists in the air. As they chanted, the two fallen felines craned their necks up in awe at the spectacle.

As Erika looked around she felt her heart begin to swell. She was amazed by what she was witnessing. "You hear that?" she heard Arata ask, making her take her gaze away from the breathtaking sight, "It's the sound of the city's faith in us."

Erika nodded and looked down at herself. She felt as though her body was being revitalized by the crowd's shouts alone. She huffed. "So is this how it felt when that kid cheered you on?"

Arata chuckled, feeling a fire ignite within himself. "You bet it is…" Then, with a growl, he plunged his sword into the ground and let out a low growl, pulling himself up whilst using his sword as leverage. Erika did the same, getting up alongside him with renewed energy. As they stood back up, the crowd's chants erupted into a roaring hurrah. Crusade whirled back around and watched in fury as the two Riders climbed back up to their feet, standing defiantly before him and his army. They soon straightened out and stood up triumphantly, earning another hurrah from the crowd. With a snarl, Arata thrust his blade forward. "CRUSADE!" he shouted, "WE'RE TAKING THIS CITY BACK NOW!" Then, with another roar, both him and Erika charged forward, "COUNT ON IT!" And just like that, the fight began anew. However, as Crusade fought the two of them, he noticed something different about them. No, it wasn't just them, it was the air, the atmosphere, everything. With all of the fear having vanished, the city itself felt more alive. The crowd's rallying cheers of support fueled the two Riders' drives, and it showed in their attacks. Every strike they threw felt stronger, and every battle cry they let out felt louder and more confident. They had the whole city to back them up, and they were using that to the fullest degree.

DESCEND!

Erika took her paw away from her belt as her under suit went from bright yellow to deep purple. As the wings adorning the sides of her helmet fell to form crescent-shaped earrings, her shoulder-guards lengthened, and a ghostly-white cape fluttered out behind her. In this new form, Erika batted away the Dopants attacking her and struck away the Crusades blocking her way. "Arata, look to the buildings ahead of us!" she shouted out, "The real Crusade is hiding there!" Crusade's heart leapt as he overheard her shout. Making haste, he disappeared between the buildings and ran off. Arata caught him in his sights just before he disappeared and let out a growl as he struggled through the crowd in pursuit. Erika struggled to follow, but she was dealing with far too many doubles to be able to catch up. _Dammit, Arata,_ she cursed, _Be safe! I'll catch up soon!_

Arata ran at full speed as soon as he knocked out the Dopants blocking his way. However, as he entered street he had seen Crusade disappear to, a crowd of Crusade's doubles leapt out and jumped him. Arata growled in frustration as he struggled to get past yet _another_ crowd. "Dammit, I don't have TIME to be dealing with a bunch of fakes!" he shouted as he beat one of them away from him.

"Hey! Zero!" he heard an older voice shout from above, "Looks like you're in need of a bit of help!" Arata grunted in a mixture of surprise and confusion before knocking away several doubles and tossing his head upwards. He looked around momentarily before he finally managed to make out the silhouette of a man standing at the top of a building. "Is it alright if I come down to offer a bit of assistance?"

"Huh?!" Arata exclaimed, growling as his attention was forced back into the fight at hand, "Don't be stupid! I'm not expecting random civilians to be able to do anything in a situation as dangerous as this!"

"Oh, I'm far from an average civilian," the stranger replied in a tone that felt far too casual to Arata's comfort, "In fact, I actually have something that should allow me to help, though it technically isn't designed for myself…"

"Wh-what are you even going on about?!" Arata exclaimed, batting away other doubles as they tried to close in.

"Look, just…hold on for a moment, I'll be right back!"

"No wait just—" Arata looked back up, but the stranger was already gone. Arata growled as he continued to fight off the attacking doubles.

"Open up!" shouted the stranger's voice.

 **\/\/\/ OPEN UP! \/\/\/**

"Huh?" said Arata, perking his head slightly.

 **\/\/\/** **GABU!** **\/\/\/**

 **GO WILD!**

 **\/\/\/** **T** **a** **i** **g** **a** **A** **A** **!** **!** **! \/\/\/**

Arata exclaimed in surprise as an orange blur shot down from above and landed on one of the doubles with an animalistic roar. All combatants of the area stood still as the strange figure crawled off of the downed double and stood at its full height.

 **\/\/\/** **To** **-ra** **to** **-** _ **RA!**_ **Ki** **ng** _ **of**_ **the** **JU** **Ng** **le!** **!** **! \/\/\/**

The figure was a bipedal creature, wearing no armor except for the sleek black gauntlets housing its claws. Its hair was a wild mess of white fur. Its skin was covered in tiger stripes, and a sleek tail whipped around behind it. Its bright green eyes glowed beneath the black crest adorning its forehead, and its pearly-white teeth glimmered in the light. And as Arata's eyes drifted downwards, his eyes fell upon the strange belt fixated to its waist.

"Wh-what the heck?!" Arata exclaimed, taking a step back, "Who are you supposed to be?! Are you a Kamen Rider too?!"

The stranger stepped back a little and laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well, I _suppose_ you could say that." The stranger's hesitant behavior was thrown out the window as the doubles suddenly went in for the kill. Both Arata and the strange newcomer adopted their own battle stances as the doubles struck first. Whilst Arata batted them away with his blade, the stranger lashed at them with reckless abandon with his claws. The stranger's attacks made quick work of the doubles, and soon there were only half as many as there were when the fight began. As Arata continued to fight the ones still in his way, the stranger jumped in and shoved Arata away. "Don't worry about these guys!" he snarled as he fought wildly with the doubles, "I'll keep them occupied! Just go and do what you need to do!"

Arata backed away at a quickened pace with a sigh of relief. "I don't know who you are, but thanks! I won't forget this!" At that, Arata turned the other way and ran off. As he did, the stranger kicked himself away from a double and landed on all fours.

"Huh," he said with a tilt of his head, "you know what? That Kamen Rider title doesn't sound too bad. I wonder how Felicia will think about it?" He flicked his tail before lashing down at the pavement and leaving wide gashes in it. "Well, for now, I suppose it's time that I went WILD!" With another primal roar, he leapt forward and pounced into battle.

Arata quickly caught up with the true Crusade and chased him into an open area. As soon as they reached it, Crusade whirled around and struck, catching the Rider by surprise. With snarls and growls escaping the throats of each combatant, the two of them fought viciously. Each landed hit was countered by another. Their blades clashed and sparked against each other with each swing.

"Tell me, kid!" shouted Crusade, "Are you really okay with letting the people of this city continue to cower in FEAR over every single Dopant attack that strikes?! REAL attacks who WON'T be merciful?!" Crusade landed a solid hit on Arata that made him stumble back. "WHY?! Why let them cower when they can DO something about it and fight BACK?!" Crusade grunted as Arata caught him off guard and landed a blow of his own, regaining his edge and gaining the upper hand.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know the answer!" he snarled, "And I'm not going to pretend that your reasoning doesn't have some logic to it!" Crusade tried to retaliate, but Arata's furious swings prevented him from being able to do so. "So if you guys are gonna be doing what you feel is right, then I'M going to do the same!" Arata swung hard again and knocked Crusade back. "And right now, protecting the city from danger is what feels right to me!" This time, Crusade caught Arata off guard and landed a hit, making Arata stagger long enough for Crusade to gain the upper hand.

"I'm trying to HELP them!" he shouted. Arata counter-swung and locked the two of them in a hold.

"LET THEM HAVE A CHOICE!" he screamed at him, "LET them come to their OWN conclusions instead of FORCING the situation onto them! EDUCATE them! Don't strike FEAR in them!" Crusade growled and forced himself forward, making Arata skid back against the gravel.

"We are doing you a SERVICE!" he growled, "NO ONE ELSE would have been able to do something of this scale and even BOTHER to keep themselves in check! If it hadn't been for us, SOMEONE ELSE would have jumped in and done this, and I assure you that they WOULD kill indiscriminately!"

Arata growled and grounded himself, stopping Crusade's advance. "That doesn't make it right to be striking FEAR into the hearts of the people!"

"SOMEONE HAS TO!" Crusade shouted before pushing Arata away, breaking away from the hold. They ran at each other again and clashed once more.

"You said that you knew the consequences you'd face by doing this!" Arata shouted back, "Well we're going to be the ones to make you FACE those consequences!"

"Why do _you_ have the right to do so, HUH?!" Crusade snarled harshly. "Why do YOU have the right to decide what your people do and don't deserve?! Why do YOUR ideals and beliefs outweigh MINE?!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Crusade grunted as he was struck with a wave of ice. He staggered back as he recovered. "Because the CITY gave me that right!" Arata roared, reeling his blade back for another swing.

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Another wave struck Crusade, making him stagger back several more steps. "Because I decided to PROTECT the city!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

Crusade cried out as an even stronger wave struck him. "Because the CITY chose me as its hero!"

FREEZE: MAXIMUM DRIVE!

An even STRONGER wave struck Crusade, nearly knocking him off of his feet. "Because I'm a KAMEN RIDER!" Arata roared as he reeled back for an even harder swing.

 **»** _**FREEZE**_ _ **: MIRACLE DRIVE!**_ **«**

Arata's entire body suddenly exploded into a wild, raging blizzard, one that was stronger than any he had ever produced before. The blizzard swept Crusade back, nearly lifting him off of his feet. He shielded himself with his arms as the blizzard raged on around him. The blizzard was so strong and thick that he could see nothing in front of him. Crusade growled as he tried to fight against it, but it was simply too strong for him _to_ fight against. But just as he thought that it would never end, an ear-splitting, THUNDEROUS clap echoed through the air. A wild gust of wind swept past Crusade and the snow was blown away, giving him back his vision. And as he lowered his arms, he drew in a sudden gasp.

Arata still stood before him, but his suit had undergone a change. It appeared sharper than before, and was now thicker and heavier. His shoulder guards had doubled up on each other, and hook-like blades lined his gauntlets. Stabbed into the ground before him was a long-sword that appeared to be made of pure ice. Arata raised his paws to his face as he gave himself a look-over. "Well how about that?" he began, reaching out and grabbing onto the handle of the ice-blade, "A new form _just_ for me." He drew the blade out of the ground and slashed it to his side, twirling it around before taking on a battle stance. He let out a battle roar as he charged forward and attacked. Crusade blocked a strike with one of his sabers, but he stumbled back as their blades collided. He snarled in frustration; Arata was _way_ stronger than he had been mere moments ago. This fact was driven in again and again as Arata continued to press on. Each blow made Crusade stumble back, making him struggle just to remain balanced. Crusade's head jerked up suddenly as he was blown back. As he landed back on his feet, a pair of doubles leapt out of his body to attack Arata.

 _Only now?!_ he questioned as he blocked a blow from one of them, _He could've sent them after me the second our fight_ started _! Unless…_ Arata slashed out and landed a critical blow on one of the doubles, causing it to vanish from sight. As it did, another one leapt out of the real Crusade and ran after him. _That's it! There's a limit as to how many he can make! His other doubles must still be out there fighting!_ Arata jerked as he saw another pair leap out of Crusade to join the fight. _Damn, so if more get taken down by Erika, then that means he can summon more here!_ Arata grunted as he was struck in the back. He whirled around and slashed at the doubles at his rear, fending them off. _Can't call Erika now! Just have to hope that she gets here in time!_

* * *

Erika shouted out as she struck a Crusade double down from above, destroying it and allowing her to shift focus. _Erika!_ came Valkyrie's voice, _Somethings off!_

 _What is it?!_ Erika asked, gritting her teeth as she took down a Dopant.

 _The doubles seem to have gotten sloppier all of a sudden!_

Erika grunted as she blocked a swing at her head. _Is that a_ bad _thing?!_

 _It wouldn't be,_ Valkyrie answered, _if I didn't feel like they were doing it on purpose…_

Erika let out a gasp. _Dammit! Crusade's got a limit! I've just been sending doubles to Arata!_ She reached down at her belt and flicked the dial.

DESCENDING DRIVE!

She let out a battle roar as she swung her blade, hurling an energy wave through the crowd blocking her way. As they vanished, Erika rushed towards where Arata had run off to.

* * *

Arata growled as he was struck again. He struggled to maintain his balance as he fought off the attacking doubles. More had joined the fight, making it more difficult to handle them all. He cried out in pain as one of them struck the back of his knee, forcing his leg to give out. He snarled as he raised his arms up over his head, blocking as many strikes as he could. He let out a roar as he stood back up and swung hard, causing a wave of ice to slam into the doubles in his way. As soon as the wave hit them, they were trapped in blocks of ice. Arata twirled his blade around before pulling the trigger at the hilt.

 **»** _**FREEZE**_ _ **: MIRACLE CHARGE!**_ **«**

With a battle cry, he rushed forward and slashed at the frozen doubles, destroying them and reducing them to nothing but shards of ice. He ran through the frozen crowd before reaching the true Crusade. They swung at each other and caught each other in a hold. Crusade growled as he sent more doubles out at Arata. The Rider, grunted as one of them struck him back, staggering him away from the true Crusade.

DESCENDING DRIVE!

A powerful wave swept through the battle ground, destroying a row of doubles. As the wave passed, Erika leapt in and landed next to Arata and gripped her blade tightly. "Sorry I'm late," she said, blocking a swing from an incoming double, "ran into some traffic!" Just as she said that, Crusade's Dopants came flooding into the area. "And there it is!" The fight was escalating, with Arata and Erika fending the crowd off with their respective attacks sweeping through the area. As Arata froze attackers in place, Erika shattered them to pieces.

"Leave 'em all frozen now!" Arata shouted over the chaos, "We're ending this in one fell swoop!"

"Gotcha!" Erika shouted back, knocking away one of the Dopants before kicking it back. She stayed at Arata's rear as he swung his blade again and again, hurling ice waves through the crowd and freezing each double on contact. Each of them struggled to free themselves, but their icy prison kept them all in check.

 _Erika! The far left!_ Valkyrie shouted. Erika whirled around in time to see the true Crusade about to make a run for it.

"Not on my watch!" Erika shouted as she pried her Memory out of her belt and plunged it into her blade.

vVv DESCENDING SLASH! vVv

Crusade froze in place as his gaze was fixated onto Erika's glowing eyes. A purple aura surged through her blade as she slowly raised it over her head. "Arata! Now!"

"RIGHT!" Arata shouted back. With a roar, he swung his blade around before plunging it into the ground. The force of the plunge ejected his Memory from the handle and flung it into the air. In one smooth motion, Arata caught the Memory and tossed it into the slot at his side.

 **»** _**FREEZE**_ _ **: MIRACLE STRIVE!**_ **«**

Just as the doubles began to break free from the ice, Arata's body burst into a raging blizzard once more. The blizzard trapped the doubles in ice once more, freezing all but Erika as it raged on. The blizzard came to an abrupt stop as the snow rapidly condensed in the air, forming Arata's body. "Frozen…" Arata slammed his fist against the slot, triggering his Memory, "EXTREEEEEMEEE!" With an astral projection of himself forming beside him, he kicked his foot forward as he rocketed back down towards the ground. Both his and the specter's foot slammed into the ground, causing a massive quake to shake the ground. The quake obliterated the frozen doubles, clearing the entire area and leaving only Crusade as he stumbled around in a dazed state. Erika found her chance and let out a roar before swinging her blade, hurling a massive wave of energy that tore through the ground before slamming into Crusade. An explosion swept through the area as soon as the attack made contact, and once the dust settled, Crusade's unarmored and unconscious body fell to the ground, his Memory falling out of his Driver before hitting the ground and shattering to pieces.

Erika panted heavily and planted her blade into the ground to lean against it. She looked up to see Arata doing the same, having returned to his base form. The two of them stared at each other silently, simply to catch their breath. But as soon as they did, they thrust their blades towards the air and let out triumphant cries of victory. However, they cut their celebration short as the sounds of Crusade's groans filled the air. The two Riders lowered their blades and slowly approached their fallen foe. The coyote grimaced as he rolled himself onto his back and looked over to the two of them. "Congratulations," he huffed, "You've made sure that your people will _always_ live in fear of people like us…" He stopped as a coughing fit overcame him. He grit his teeth when it ceased, and he continued. "At this rate, they'll never fight for themselves. They'll _always_ depend on their "heroes" to defend them…"

Arata remained silent, letting his gaze fall to his feet. But as he felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder, he raised it and saw Erika looking directly at him. They held each other's gazes for a moment. "You know what?" Erika began, "I think I'm okay with that idea." She then looked down to Crusade, who was looking at the two of them with confusion. "If the city needs its heroes, then I'm glad to be one of them."

"…She's right," Arata chimed in, nodding in agreement, "Besides, we were the ones who decided to fight. If we just stepped down and let everyone else fight, then who are we to call ourselves heroes?"

The coyote let out a chuff as his eyes began to drift close. "Then you'd better hope that you've got what it takes…" he muttered before falling into unconsciousness.

* * *

Arata and Erika sat together atop a rooftop as they watched Crusade and his crew get taken away. "You know," said Arata, "with our secret out, our enemies are probably gonna start using dirty tactics with us…" Erika sighed through her nose.

"Honestly, I feel like they've known our identity for a long time," she replied. Arata turned to her and gave her a look. "It's not like you haven't transformed in the open before… And isn't it like you said? They want us around for a reason?" Arata turned away and pondered her words.

"I guess you're right… I haven't exactly been careful with that as I could…" Erika nodded slowly, swishing her tail at her side. Arata glanced away from the scene for a moment and turned to Erika. "Erika?" he called to her, "…Thank you for overcoming your fears and coming to help."

Erika waved a paw at him dismissively. "It's old news, Arata. Best to toss them aside. We should be _even_ now, anyways. And besides, didn't I tell you?" Arata tilted his head at her, and she looked back at him with a smile across her muzzle. "I promised I'd find a way to fight alongside you. I might've gotten a bit sidetracked on the way…but I got there." Arata stared at her in confusion before a memory came flooding back to his mind. He smiled as he remembered what she had told him on her hospital bed so long ago. Erika tapped a fist to his shoulder. "Now you don't have to be the one defending _me._ From now on, I've got _your_ back."

Arata let out a laugh. "Hey, it's not like I _need_ any defending." Erika chuffed and playfully shoved him, making him laugh more. "Okay, okay. Well, at the very least, we can have each other's backs." Erika smiled and nodded in satisfaction. "Sounds good to me." At that, the two felines looked over their city. This was the city that they now vowed to protect. This was the city that they would look after. Because they were its sworn heroes.

Because they were its Kamen Riders.


End file.
